If the Minnesota Vikings do bring in a veteran QB, it would likely force J.J. McCarthy to win the starting job in a competition during training camp and the preseason. However, former NFL tight end Shannon Sharpe indicates with warning that McCarthy will be in for a fight if Minnesota signs one particular veteran.
Over the past few days, names have emerged from insiders and speculation about who the Vikings could target to improve their QB position. One scenario that emerged is the potential return of Kirk Cousins.
On Feb. 7, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini got the entire rumor mill started with her reporting on the matter.
“I’m watching to see if the Falcons find any parties interested in [Cousins],” Russini wrote in her article. “Speaking of those Vikings, one league source speculated that Cousins could be an option there, given his history with Kevin O’Connell and Minnesota’s desire to bring in competition for young J.J. McCarthy.”
Nonetheless, Sharpe suggests that Cousins would beat out McCarthy because he knows the system that head coach Kevin O’Connell is running. It would be a different conversation if Minnesota were to bring in a QB who needs to learn the Vikings system, which would give McCarthy the upper hand, but that wouldn’t be the case with Cousins.
“He’s familiar [with O’Connell’s system],“ Sharpe said in a Feb. 11 video from Nightcap’s YouTube channel. “He spent what, three or four years in that system with Kevin O’Connell? So [Cousins] knows it. Just unlearn the two years that he was in Atlanta. You can unlearn that. That won’t take long… Minnesota can use a vet, but at the end of the day, J.J. McCarthy is going to have to become something.“
Shannon Sharpe Doesn’t Hold Back on Vikings’ QB Situation
Moreover, Sharpe noted that last offseason the Vikings didn’t want to bring in a QB who could beat out McCarthy, which is why he believes Minnesota let Sam Darnold walk as a free agent. Nonetheless, this offseason might be different considering how the 2025 season went.
“I believe that’s one of the reasons they moved on from Darnold,“ Sharpe added. “They knew Darnold would beat [McCarthy] out. If I bring a veteran in, I’ve got to bring one that can’t win the job.”
Now, it isn’t a guarantee that Cousins can beat out McCarthy should Minnesota sign the veteran QB, as Sharpe appears to suggest. Still, it would be a major challenge for the Michigan Wolverines product to elevate his game, knowing he’d be on even ground in terms of familiarity with the system.
Adam Schefter Gives Latest on Kirk Cousin’s Future
On Feb. 9, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter shared more details about the future for Cousins, who is expected to be released by the Atlanta Falcons.
“Kirk Cousins is expected to be released, “ Schefter said on the Feb. 9 edition of the “Pat McAfee Show. “ “[The Falcons] restructured his contract with the idea that he will be released. He’ll be released before the new league year begins. I think he’d like to play, but he’s going to consider all his options. That could include TV, that could include retirement, whatever it is that he wants to do, he’ll have the option to do it. But the Falcons will release him before the start of the new league year, so that’ll be an option for him.
“You bring up Minnesota. Well, Minnesota is always going to bring in a quarterback. Obviously, they have to do that anyway. The question is, who’s that going to be? I asked Kirk about Minnesota last week, and I didn’t get a no, but I didn’t get a yes. It’s possible, but there are a lot of things out there that are possible with him.”
Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy Gets Big Warning Amid Kirk Cousins Rumor