J.J. McCarthy Could Compete with Kyler Murray or Geno Smith, Pelissero Says

Nobody is screaming "the Vikings aren't anywhere close to moving on from J.J. McCarthy!" louder than NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.

Pelissero, whose roots in Minnesota make him well-connected to the Vikings, continues to report that the Vikings do intend to have McCarthy compete with a former NFL starter for the QB1 job in 2026.

"What the Vikings are going to do this year is what they intended to do a year ago, which is have a legitimate guy, a former starter, competing with J.J. McCarthy," Pelissero said Thursday on The Rich Eisen Show. "And they're optimistic that a competitive environment is going to bring out the best in J.J. McCarthy."

The viral clip from Pelissero's appearance with Eisen was him saying Justin Jefferson still believes in McCarthy: "Justin Jefferson still believes in J.J. McCarthy. I can tell you that factually. He still believes in him."

However, what he said about the quarterbacks Minnesota might be looking to bring into an open competition against McCarthy was more telling, because he essentially named Kyler Murray and Geno Smith and left everyone else off the list.

"The ones that make sense to me would be Kyler Murray. He's played a ton. He has not played in this offense. So you get an opportunity to learn from Kevin O'Connell, and we know he's got playmaking ability. He's fully healthy now. Geno Smith would also make some sense as a compete guy," Pelissero said.

Murray is a former No. 1 overall pick with legit upside. Smith was a rockstar with the Seahawks from 2022 to 2024, earning two Pro Bowl selections and finishing ninth in the MVP vote in 2022. We wrote yesterday that both guys seem like shoe-ins to start over McCarthy if they sign in Minnesota, but Pelissero disagrees.

"Because again, at some point, you can turn it over. Even those guys are your starters out of the gate and they outplay J.J. McCarthy, at some point you can turn it over," he said, then shutting down the thought of Minnesota every giving the job to McCarthy if they signed Aaron Rodgers or Kirk Cousins.

"The idea of bringing in Aaron Rodgers and if the season doesn't get off to a good start, you're not benching four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers. You're not having an open competition between Aaron Rodgers and J.J. McCarthy," Pelissero continued. "I don't believe you can have an open competition between Kirk Cousins and J.J. McCarthy, because you've got thousands of fans pulling out their No. 8 jerseys, because he is Kirk Cousins."

"I believe a guy like Kyler or Geno makes a ton of sense to come in, because you can have a truly level playing ground. You can choose the best quarterback," he added.

If McCarthy won the job in training camp and the preseason, Pelissero said Minnesota could then trade Murray or Smith instead of forcing respected veterans to wear an earpiece and hold a clipboard on the sideline.

When pressed on why the Vikings, if they have such a strong belief in McCarthy, don't just name him the starter, Pelissero responded, "They want to have options because he's not shown that he can be durable. They don't want to be signing Carson Wentz off the couch at the cutdown deadline in August and then having to play him."

It's a fascinating situation, but Pelissero is as locked in on Vikings steam as any insider in the league, so the fact that he's pushing the McCarthy belief narrative so hard, while saying Murray and Smith make the most sense as veteran additions, is worth paying close attention to.