J.J. McCarthy’s turbulent summer with the Minnesota Vikings will not end with his release, at least not on cutdown day.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on August 30 that McCarthy finished the NFL’s roster deadline on the Vikings’ 53-man roster, ending days of mounting speculation that Minnesota could trade or even release its former first-round quarterback.
“Despite any speculation that he could be released or traded, Minnesota QB J.J. McCarthy finished cutdown day on the Vikings’ 53-man roster,” Schefter posted on X.
The decision gives McCarthy some immediate security after a training camp in which he lost the starting job to Kyler Murray, suffered another injury and appeared to fall behind Carson Wentz in Minnesota’s quarterback pecking order.
It does not, however, necessarily settle where McCarthy stands beyond cutdown day.
J.J. McCarthy Survives After Vikings QB Situation Changed Quickly
McCarthy entered the summer with an opportunity to prove he should remain Minnesota’s long-term starter, but the competition moved in Murray’s direction quickly.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell officially named Murray the Vikings’ starter on August 11 after 10 training-camp practices. The two quarterbacks had shared work with Minnesota’s first- and second-team offenses throughout the offseason and early portion of camp.
That alone represented a significant change for McCarthy.
The Vikings selected him No. 10 overall in the 2024 NFL draft, making him the highest-drafted quarterback in franchise history. After missing his entire rookie season because of a knee injury, McCarthy went 6-4 as a starter in 2025 but finished with a 72.6 passer rating, the lowest among 33 qualifying quarterbacks, according to the Vikings’ own training-camp preview.
Minnesota signed Murray in March and turned the starting job into a competition rather than simply handing McCarthy another season.
Then came another complication.
McCarthy suffered an ankle injury during Minnesota’s second preseason game and ultimately did not play in the August 28 finale against the Denver Broncos. Wentz started instead, completing 3 of 4 passes over two series before Max Brosmer took over.
By that point, the question had shifted from whether McCarthy could beat Murray to whether he was even Minnesota’s No. 2 quarterback.
The Vikings announced their official 53-man roster, and it featured Murray and McCarthy in addition to Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer.
Cut Speculation Reached Its Peak Before Schefter’s Report
McCarthy’s roster status became a legitimate cutdown-day storyline rather than merely social-media conjecture.
The Athletic’s Alec Lewis projected that Minnesota would carry Murray and Wentz on its initial roster while leaving McCarthy off. NBC Sports subsequently highlighted the prediction, noting that McCarthy’s injury and Wentz’s apparent hold on the backup role had created uncertainty about the former first-round pick’s future.
NFL.com also listed McCarthy among Minnesota’s notable cut or trade candidates, though writer Kevin Patra said he did not expect the Vikings to outright release him and argued that Minnesota should listen if another team called about a trade.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler added Sunday that McCarthy’s name had not surfaced much while he checked with teams regarding backup-quarterback trade possibilities, but said the league was watching whether Minnesota intended to make Wentz the No. 2 and McCarthy the No. 3.
Schefter’s report eliminates the most dramatic possibility for now: Minnesota did not simply cut bait.
Making Vikings Roster Doesn’t Answer McCarthy’s Biggest Remaining Question
Keeping McCarthy also makes considerably more sense financially than releasing him for nothing.
His four-year rookie contract is worth approximately $21.85 million and was fully guaranteed at signing. McCarthy carries a roughly $5.96 million salary-cap charge in 2026, according to Spotrac.
More importantly, he is still only 23 and plays the most valuable position in football.
Minnesota can continue attempting to develop McCarthy behind Murray, or retain him as an asset if another club develops a quarterback need before the NFL trade deadline. Making the initial 53 does not prevent the Vikings from trading him later.
The more immediate intrigue is his place on the depth chart.
Minnesota’s first unofficial depth chart, released one day after Murray won the starting job, listed McCarthy ahead of Wentz. But Wentz starting the preseason finale while McCarthy was unavailable added to the perception that the veteran had moved into the No. 2 role.
So McCarthy won one important battle Sunday: he remains a Viking.
Whether he remains Murray’s primary backup — and how long Minnesota intends to keep its former top-10 pick — is now the question that follows him into the regular season.
Minnesota Vikings Make J.J. McCarthy Decision After Weeks of Speculation