The Minnesota Vikings have the clearest path they’ve ever had to trading quarterback JJ McCarthy heading into Week 3 of the NFL season.
Multiple major injuries to starting QBs Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears, which came against Minnesota on Sunday, and Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders are the types of inevitabilities that open up a market for young players like McCarthy who may simply need a change of scenery.
But it’s a different NFC team that is currently the strongest candidate to make a McCarthy trade: the Atlanta Falcons.
Falcons Benched Cooper Rush for Undrafted Rookie Jack Strand in Week 2
Atlanta entered training camp with the intention of pitting Michael Penix Jr. against Tua Tagovailoa for the QB1 role.
But Penix was injured throughout training camp, while Tagovailoa inspired little to no confidence in a one-man QB competition before he sustained a strained right oblique prior to the season-opener.
As a result, neither Penix nor Tagovailoa has played a regular-season snap for the Falcons through two games. Instead, Atlanta has used Cooper Rush and undrafted rookie Jack Strand who made the team out of Division II Minnesota State-Moorhead and are 0-2 with a negative point differential of 38 points two weeks into the campaign.
Rush is a combined 22-of-39 passing for 229 yards, one TD and four INTs. Strand stepped in for Rush in the middle of the team’s game against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday and completed 8-of-15 throws for 59 yards and one interception.
Combined, the two QBs accounted for as many interceptions (3) as points (3) on the afternoon.
Michael Penix Jr. Likely on Last Chance as Falcons’ Starter When He Returns
Penix is preparing to potentially make his 2026 debut against the Green Bay Packers on Thursday Night Football on September 23, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport.
“Michael Penix Jr., the Falcons’ preferred starter, is nearing a return and could make his 2026 debut on Thursday night against the Green Bay Packers, according to sources,” Schefter and Rapoport wrote. “Penix has been out the first two games as he recovers from a torn ACL.”
Penix, who came off the draft board two spots ahead of McCarthy two years ago, has struggled with injury and performance in a similar way. He has appeared in just 14 games and made just 12 starts over two seasons in the NFL.
Atlanta already knows everything they need to know about Rush after benching him for Strand. And Strand, if he’s ever going to be ready to play at the sport’s highest level, isn’t there yet.
Tagovailoa was awful all preseason and is hurt yet again. That leaves only Penix, who is probably on his last chance in Atlanta.
All of that argues for the Falcons making a move for McCarthy, a 23-year-old QB with a big arm and a winning record (6-4) as the Vikings’ starter in 2025. McCarthy’s trade value is probably at its lowest since Minnesota drafted him 10th overall in 2024, but an early Day 3 draft pick feels like a reasonable compromise with value on both sides.
Vikings QB JJ McCarthy Trade Suitor Emerges After Week 2