The Minnesota Vikings are currently having a QB battle between J.J. McCarthy and Kyler Murray. Many expect Murray to win the competition and McCarthy to fall to QB2, but that’s far from guaranteed, as it’s still early in the battle.
Nonetheless, NFL insider Tom Pelissero suggested during a June 4 appearance on KFAN that, given how the Vikings’ quarterback competition is unfolding, Minnesota may need to consider all options, including the possibility of trading McCarthy while his value remains high.
With that comment from Pelissero carrying weight, former Vikings linebacker Ben Leber said that if new general manager Nolan Teasley decides McCarthy is not the quarterback he wants, it could become an easy out for the organization as a whole since he has no ties to the player.
“[Teasley is] going to take all of that information, bring it into watching the OTAs with his real eyes, watch how he manages the situation if Kyler Murray is the starting quarterback, and he’s going to make the final decision,” Leber said in a June 5 video on his YouTube channel. “And I think that is the ultimate out for everybody. It gets Kevin O’Connell off the hook [and] gets Rob Brzezinski off the hook.
“It gets the Vikings organization off the hook because they’ve said already today that it is Nolan Teasley’s decision on the final 53. And if he feels like, ‘Hey man, this is where I see this guy, and I think that we should maximize our value from him and trade him and just give our organization a clean slate,’ then so be it. So to me, he’s the catalyst to this whole thing.”
Minnesota Has Delicate Situation on Its Hands
Moreover, in that same video, Leber questions whether, if McCarthy loses, it would be wise to have him as QB2 or even QB3 should a fall down the depth chart occur.
Should the former first-round pick loses the competition and even falls to QB3, Leber wonders if there will be division in the locker room, given that there are players in the Vikings locker room who back McCarthy.
“If [Murray is] thriving already in that situation with all of his experience, and then you add on his playmaking ability that’s proven, yeah, I can see why he’s starting to pull himself away from this competition. If that’s the case and you really trust what you have as a backup quarterback right now in Carson Wentz, then what do you do with J.J. McCarthy?
“… You can’t have him as the second- or third-string guy, especially the third-string guy. Going back to what we discussed with [Dan] Orlovsky, there would be a division in the locker room if he was the third quarterback and Kyler was No. 1. I think you would maybe have an issue with some of the chemistry in that locker room. It might just be the cleanest thing to do, to trade him, find some value for him, and move on.”
Vikings Insider Gives J.J. McCarthy Update Before Minicamp
Minnesota will have to navigate a delicate situation if McCarthy ultimately loses the competition. Nonetheless, Murray has proven to be injury-prone in his career, and so has Wentz, so it wouldn’t hurt to keep McCarthy and avoid going through what they went through last season.
McCarthy will need to have the mindset that he needs to be ready if he’s QB2, because at any time he could be asked to come in, and that would be his opportunity to show he’s a starter.
Furthermore, The Athletic’s Alec Lewis gave an update on how McCarthy has looked during OTAs as mandatory minicamp approaches.
“I understand with J.J. McCarthy coming back this spring and summer, he’s obviously been very motivated and has every reason to be motivated,” Lewis said on the June 2 edition of “The Alec Lewis Show.”
“I think, from a throwing standpoint, he’s definitely looked solid. His mechanics look smooth, and the layering he’s obviously focused on is something that he wants to continue to improve on.”
J.J. McCarthy Gets Clear Message on Vikings Future Amid QB Battle