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Did 49ers Call Vikings About Potential Trade for J.J. McCarthy?

Until Purdy puts pen to paper, nothing is off the table.
Grant Cohn|
Aug 10, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) warms up before the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
Aug 10, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) warms up before the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

Are the 49ers in the quarterback market or aren't they?

A month ago, 49ers owner Jed York said he wants to keep Purdy around long-term and will do whatever it takes to make that happen. But that could mean making Purdy play out his rookie contract and then franchise-tagging him twice.

It's unclear just how highly the 49ers value Purdy. Obviously, they would like to keep him unless they find someone better or cheaper or both.

Which brings us to Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy. He was a first-round pick last year but he didn't play because he had a knee injury. But he was coached by Kevin O'Connell for a season. And in college, he was coached by Jim Harbaugh and he won a National Championship, so he has pedigree.

According to The NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, the Vikings have been getting trade calls for McCarthy from multiple teams this offseason but are unwilling to trade McCarthy at this time. For now, he's their starting quarterback. Pelissero did not say which teams have called about McCarthy.

Is it possible the 49ers were one of those teams?

Considering they recently signed Mac Jones to a two-year deal and Purdy hasn't been extended yet, it seems the 49ers are considering all options at quarterback, particularly cost-effective options such as Jones and McCarthy.

Which makes you wonder. If Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders were to drop to the 49ers in Round 1, would they take him?

Until Purdy puts pen to paper, nothing is off the table.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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