Albert Breer on Vikings QB Dilemma, Brian Thomas Jr., Chiefs Free Agency

All right.

Welcome in.

It's the Brew Report for March 12th.

Free agency is not over yet, might feel that way with the shelves starting to look a little bit bare.

The league year is less than 24 hours old, but of course, we are now into the 4th day of the negotiating period.

Um, where NFL teams can do deals with players and so we have a lot to get to.

We do not have a print mailbag coming this week.

We've had free agency notes every day.

We will have another set of free agency notes later on Thursday.

The mailbag will return next week, the print mailbag.

But I do want to get to some of your questions right here, right now on the Brew Report.

So we're gonna start with the first question that's from AJ Gonzalez.

Um, sorry if I pronounced your name wrong there, that's at Ages away.

Um, does KOC still believe in JJ McCarthy long term, even if they pick up Kyle, pick up Kyler Murray.

So I think to understand where the Vikings are at on this , you have to rewind things back a year and that there was some intention on, and, and there was some intention to put some competition in the room for JJ McCarthy in 2025.

And that wasn't because of a lack of belief in JJ McCarthy at the time, more so.

It was about making sure that you had the proper insurance in place because you had a team that you thought could win in the here and the now.

And if you look at the roster from last year, it was Harrison Smith, it's Jonathan Gernnard, it's Andrew Van Ginkle, it's Justin Jefferson, it's Jordan Addison, it's Aaron Jones, it's Christian Darisa.

You just have a roster that's not a young developing roster anymore.

It's a, it's a roster that is right in the window to compete for a championship and so, When they failed to bring Daniel Jones back, when they failed to bring Sam Darnold back, they made the decision, OK, there isn't really a competitive piece out here, so let's go all in on JJ McCarthy, which they did.

Obviously, the results are the results that come out of that.

This has not been the sort of, that, that was not the sort of year they were expecting to have.

And so now, you know, they, they, they move forward in trying to recreate what they were going to create in 2025.

And so that means adding competition to the room.

And my sense has been that this was going to be a reclamation project over the last couple of months.

Uh, Kevin O'Connell and the front office have dove into a study on, on all the potential reclamation projects because of the success they had two years ago with Sam Darnold and to a lesser degree, Daniel Jones.

And is there somebody out there that was a former first-round pick or has some talent to work with?

That we can take and make our own and enhance the way we were able to enhance Sam Darnold in the 14-win year of 2024.

And Kyler Murray is way at the top of that list.

So, I think for the Vikings, Kyler Murray is the name they've had circled.

For a while now.

And, you know, when Kyler Murray was cut, which, you know, it was his intention to, to, to, to be released, he did not want to be traded, because he knew if he got cut because of that $36.

8 million dollar guarantee, he was going to be playing on the minimum somewhere, which would allow him to make this a football-only decision.

The best football situation for him was always gonna be in Minnesota.

And so, um, they will meet today , and my sense is this thing will come together and they will do a deal, and Kyler Murray will be thrown into a competition with JJ McCarthy.

And this becomes then sink or swim time for JJ McCarthy.

Can he be what they thought he was gonna be when they drafted him 10th overall in 2024?

That's the question.

I don't know if he can get there, um, you know, based on what we saw last year, I can understand some skepticism about that, uh, but, you know, sometimes you come through those experiences better for having gone through them, and that's something that's a little unlike anything JJ McCarthy has gone through before as a football player.

There's a chance it does make him better.

And in the end, when we get to August and this really becomes a competition, then we'll get to see.

Um, because you have somebody competing against him who has led a team to the playoffs, who has played in Pro Bowls, um, who does have , you know, a real level of talent and won a Heisman Trophy and was one of the greatest high school quarterbacks in the history of the state of Texas.

I know it sounds like nothing comparatively to the NFL, but it is something, so.

I think it creates a really interesting situation and at least in the short term, gives the Vikings the best chance to put the best answer behind center in 2026.

All right.

Question number two, this is from Paul Andrew Esden Jr.

that's at Boygreen 25.

Uh, this is a Jets fan, by the way, um, as his handle would indicate, there's been a lot of rumors that the Jaguars could move wide receiver Brian Thomas Junior.

Is that true?

If so, what went wrong in Jacksonville from from Pro Bowler to castoff bizarre.

I can understand where you would think that.

Looking at this, the Jaguars would have some interest in moving him, and his name has been rumored in these sorts of things a lot over the course of the last.

789 months.

Um, I can tell you unequivocally the Jaguars have no plans to trade him.

Um, they aren't entertaining it right now, and it wouldn't make sense to trade him now because this would be selling very low on a very talented player who, you know, had a massive rookie year in 2024.

And if you want Wanna roll the clock back to 2024, 1200 yards, I think almost 10 touchdowns, um, showed that he could make plays at all levels of the field.

This is a guy the Jaguars want to keep developing.

When a new coaching staff comes in, sometimes it takes for different guys and different, uh it takes for different guys at different paces.

And so, you had a young guy in Parker, Washington who really turned the corner in his third year.

You had a rookie that they were very invested in in Travis Hunter, and then you make the trade in mid-season for Jacoby Myers.

And so, the sorts of opportunities that Brian Thomas was getting to develop, which you have to earn, weren't coming his way.

Now they'll get a chance to reset a little bit.

He played pretty well down the stretch.

I think he does still have that ability to be that sort of receiver that he was as a rookie.

And you look at it and you say to yourself, OK, we're planning on playing Travis Hunter more on defense now.

And so if he's gonna be primarily a defensive player, more of a spot player on offense, then we're gonna need some depth at the receiver spot.

You know what you've got Jacoby Myers, you've re-signed him at $20 million a year.

He is Mr.

Reliable, a really good inside weapon.

You got Parker Washington, who is a, a, a really, really good young player, who is a good college player who took a minute to develop but has turned into something as a pro.

And then you've got Brian Thomas Jr., who again, I think can be the kind of player who can make plays at all three levels.

So, selling on that sort of talent at this point wouldn't make any sense.

I don't see the Jaguars entertaining it unless some sort of godfather offer comes along.

He will be a Jacksonville Jaguar in 2026.

Finally, question number 3, this is from just here, so I ain't get fined.

Uh, I like your, like your handle there at don't find bro.

Uh, Kansas City have any future further moves, planned, trades for edge or receiver.

Um, I think the names that you're gonna hear bandied about in the receiver market over the next month and a half, whatever it is leading up to the draft, are gonna be the guys who are in contract situations.

So Chris Olave is one in New Orleans, Jordan Addison is another one in Minnesota.

Do those guys get long?

Term deal is done.

If they don't, they push to be traded.

Um, if those teams are going to trade them, um, the New Orleans Saints and the Minnesota Vikings, I think, view themselves as playoff contenders.

So they would want to have whatever's coming back on their roster this year.

If you're gonna trade draft picks, you want those draft picks on the roster this year, then you got to trade them before this year's draft.

Um, I just don't think the Chiefs are gonna be swimming in those waters as far as the draft pick compensation.

On the edge, could they take a chance on somebody like Kavon Thibodeaux because it's gonna cost a little less?

I certainly could see something like that.

But I think where the Chiefs are focused right now is replenishing their roster and trying to have another wave of young players coming up.

Remember, Chris Jones and, and, and , and, and Travis Kelsey aren't gonna be there forever.

Um, you have Patrick Mahomes, of course, long term.

You know, and then you look at the signing of Kenneth Walker and Kyris Tonga, that shored up two of the holes that they had that they really, you know, really felt like going into the offseason were big ones for them.

Kenneth Walker is a sort of 3-down back they haven't had before.

Kyris Tonga is something they really needed a run-stuffing nose tackle.

And so now you have the 9th pick, you have the 29th pick, and you have the 40th pick, and you have a blank canvas to do what you want with it.

And so you look at a couple of years ago when they made the Travis, the, the, the, the, the uh Tyreek Hill trade.

They make the Tyreek Hill trade, they had started replenishing the roster and you see some of those guys now on 2nd contracts.

Guys like George Car Loftus, Nick Bolton, Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith.

You've got this core of young players that are on the roster now that are moving into the prime of their careers.

They want to create a second wave of that.

And so the same way that Tyreek Hill trade helped them do that.

Four years ago, now you're trying to do that again in 2026 with the draft capital that you have.

Maybe you already have, you know, a couple of those pieces on the roster.

A guy like Josh Simmons would come to mind as one who could grow into one of those pieces, but certainly I think their focus is gonna be on replenishing the younger parts of replenishing their roster with young.

A more affordable talent with so much of their core on big contracts.

So, um, again, if there's an opportunity for a Kavon Thibodeaux, you take a flyer on a guy like that, certainly see that as a, as, as, as something they could look at.

But if you want to talk about the receiver spot, I would see it more likely that somebody like Carnell Tate walks on, winds up on the roster.

And an Olave or an Addison.

Appreciate you guys coming out.

As always, you can leave your comments down below, any questions you have down below here on the YouTube page, or you can get to me on my social media.

That's at Albert Breer on Twitter, at Albert Aubrey on Facebook, at Albert_Breer on Instagram.

We got one more Brewer report coming for you this week, tomorrow.

We will be wrapping up free agency.

We'll see you guys then.