J.J. McCarthy's football cards on fire

J.J. McCarthy of the Minnesota Vikings was late to join the five other quarterbacks selected in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft as the starting quarterback for his franchise.

Buoyed by two record-setting, high-end sales in September, the demand for the football cards of Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy is as high as that of any other football player within the hobby. A successful starting debut helped back up the hype, solidifying McCarthy as one of the early-season winners when it comes to the value of his football cards.

While Jayden Daniels (Washington Commanders), Drake Maye (New England Patriots), Bo Nix (Denver Broncos), Michael Penix Jr. (Atlanta Falcons) and Caleb Williams (Chicago Bears) were starting games as rookies in 2024, McCarthy was recovering from a preseason knee injury, which sidelined him for the season. Football card hobbyists chased the cards of the other five quarterbacks who were elevated to QB1 status as rookies; Daniels, Nix and Williams started in Week 1, Maye got his first start in Week 6 and Penix replaced Kirk Cousins in Week 16.

Nevertheless, McCarthy’s strong card values entering the season have continued to surge ahead of a meeting between the Vikings and Penix Jr.’s Falcons for the Week 2 edition of “Sunday Night Football.”

McCarthy, who missed the entire 2024 season, was named NFC Player of the Week after throwing for 143 yards and accounting for three touchdowns (two passing and one rushing) in a 27-24 road win over Williams and the Bears in his starting debut.

2024 Panini Prizm JJ McCarthy Autograph — Cards like J.J. McCarthy's 2024 Panini Prizm Football Silver Autograph have been on the rise since speculation began in January that the former first-round pick would be the starting quarterback for the Vikings in 2025. | Cardladder.com

The start helped justify the rise in McCarthy’s card market that it experienced throughout the spring and summer. Before Sam Darnold left the Vikings to sign with the Seattle Seahawks as a free agent after quarterbacking the club to a 14-3 record, McCarthy's stock took off amid speculation of his ascent to the starting role in 2025.

According to GemRate, McCarthy generated the fourth-highest sales volume of any active or retired football player in August ($1,777,333 in sales). The sales generated by the former Michigan standout trailed only Daniels ($3,003,228), Tom Brady ($2,624,491) and Patrick Mahomes ($2,264,559) among active or retired football players whose cards transacted on eBay in August.

Daniels’ cards have generated more than $23 million in sales in 2025, according to data collected and published by GemRate, setting the pace for the 2024 quarterback class within the hobby with the highest eBay sales volume among active or retired football players. Williams ($10,299,416) and Nix ($9,665,778) round out the top five of GemRate’s list of the highest-selling football players in 2025, with McCarthy’s year-to-date eBay sales ($9,214,091) coming in ahead of Maye ($8,469,222) for the No. 6 spot.

If McCarthy successfully builds on his strong debut, his year-to-date sales volume should continue to climb by the end of what’s shaping up to be a good September for his cards. McCarthy’s September numbers will be buoyed by multiple five-figure sales, including the two highest-selling McCarthy cards on record (based on Card Ladder’s verified sales data).

SPECTACULAR J.J. MCCARTHY 1/1 SHIELD 🔥

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This 2024 Panini National Treasures Rookie Patch Autograph Stars & Stripes Platinum NFL Shield #156 JJ McCarthy Signed NFL Shield Patch Rookie Card (#1/1) - PSA MINT 9, PSA/DNA GEM MT 10 is available now… pic.twitter.com/VcFIc7xt3m
— Goldin (@GoldinCo) August 22, 2025

A 1-of-1 Midnight Moon NFL shield autograph from 2024 Panini National Treasures Football (#156) sold for $36,120 in an ALT auction on Sept. 4. The card, graded an 8.5 by Beckett, which included a “SKOL!” inscription added by McCarthy, set the record for a McCarthy card sale.

The record only stood for two days. On Sept. 6, $36,600 (the winning bid plus the buyer’s premium) won a Goldin Auctions auction for a PSA 9 McCarthy Stars & Stripes Platinum NFL Shield (1/1) autograph from 2024 Panini National Treasures Football (#156).

McCarthy’s high-end cards aren’t his only that are being sought after across various marketplaces.

There were 19 sales of PSA 10-graded copies of McCarthy’s 2024 Panini Prizm Football (#400) base rookie card between Tuesday and Friday, according to Card Ladder, with an average sale of $84. The PSA 10 copy (population of 799) sold on Saturday for $99.99 on eBay, which is less than the two highest-recorded sales of McCarthy’s Prizm rookie card verified by Card Ladder since Monday’s win over the Bears (an eBay auction with a winning bid of $118.51 on Tuesday was surpassed by an eBay fixed price sale of $149.99 on Wednesday).

J.J. McCarthy 2024 National Treasures Midnight Moon NFL Shield 1-of-1 — J.J. McCarthy's Midnight Moon NFL shield autograph 1-of-1 card is one of two McCarthy cards to exceed a sales price of more than $36,000 in September. | Card Ladder

According to Card Ladder’s recent sales data, McCarthy’s PSA 10 Prizm base rookie card is outselling Daniels ($85.15), Maye ($35.60), Nix ($34.99), Penix ($39) and Williams ($39).

McCarthy’s PSA 10 Prizm base rookie card is up 18.41 percent from when it first transacted in February, according to Card Ladder. McCarthy is the only first-round quarterback in the 2024 class with a PSA 10 Prizm base rookie that’s up for the year, according to Card Ladder, with the cards of Daniels (down 74.69 percent), Penix (down 52.43 percent) and Williams (down 78.85 percent) down from where they started the year (Card Ladder doesn’t have data available for the cards of Maye and Nix).