McCarthy Back in Minnesota, No Signs of Trade Drama as QB Battle Looms

After spending several weeks in California working out with renowned quarterback trainer John Beck, 23-year-old J.J. McCarthy has reportedly returned to Minnesota to continue preparing for Vikings offseason workouts.

McCarthy's return to Minnesota was reported Tuesday by the Minnesota Star Tribune's Ben Goessling, who was asked by KFAN radio's Paul Allen if there's any steam about McCarthy wanting to be traded after the Vikings signed quarterbacks Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz. Short answer: Not that Goessling's heard of.

"I have not heard steam to corroborate that. I've heard people talk about the possibility, that, you know, would he consider that. Without being directly in his head, it's hard to say that," Goessling answered. "I know that he's back in Minnesota. I think he's getting ready for the offseason and kind of preparing for the start of offseason workouts. It seems like he has every intention to be here."

Murray is the odds-on favorite to win a quarterback competition against McCarthy and Wentz, but there are plenty of insiders who are adamant that Murray hasn't been promised the starting job and that he'll have to win a competition to become QB1. If McCarthy doesn't win the starting job, maybe there's a world where a team reaches out to see if he's available.

"It's hard to say that there would be a scenario where they wouldn't do it. If somebody came along and gave them a big offer, maybe you consider those things," Goessling said. "But I don't think anybody in that building has given up on him, and I don't think that he is blindsided by the idea that they were going to bring somebody in. They have been in contact with him about that the whole way through, and I think he ended the season kind of aware of that being a reality, based on the way 2025 went for him.

"I would be a little surprised if he's banging the table trying to get his way out of here. It's also a place where he could find himself back in the mix. It's not impossible that he does that. He's going to have to be a lot better. He's going to have to prove things to people that he's improved in some pretty significant areas. But no, I don't get the sense that there's trouble afoot at the moment, in the sense that he would want to get out of here quickly."

Training with Beck in Huntington Beach, California, could be very good for McCarthy. He worked out with Beck via his 3DQB company before the NFL Draft, and it's obvious that the Vikings have sent him on a mission to improve his mechanics and throwing fundamentals, which is precisely what Beck and company do at 3DQB.

Beck's company has worked with dozens of high-profile quarterbacks, including Tom Brady, Matt Ryan, Drew Brees, Dak Prescott, Matthew Stafford, Jared Goff, Eli Manning, Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert, and even Wentz.

The training regimen at 3DQB includes a focus on biomechanics, motion and timing mechanics, mind and body connection, and the fundamentals of human movement.

Last season, after a mid-November loss to the Bears, O'Connell publicly dissected McCarthy's mechanics and how inconsistencies were affecting his accuracy.

"There are some plays where he's making it hard on himself," O'Connell said on Nov. 17. “That's probably the most frustrating part for him. It's talked about and repped and practiced at length, and then in those moments, in his fifth start—just the variance to it is causing his job to be more difficult than it needs to be. He’s wildly capable of making the throws that present themselves. There were some good throws in there as well.”

“He's gonna keep working at it, we're gonna go back to work and continue to find every avenue to try to help build the consistency to his mechanics, and then I firmly believe the accuracy will come from that," O'Connell added. "It’s been tried and true and tested with other players ... and that’s what we’re gonna keep working towards. Knowing he’s got what it takes to do some of the things he’s been able to do and be at his best late in games, we’ve got to find a way to find that consistency early.”

At the NFL Combine in late February, O'Connell noted that McCarthy was working out with Beck in California, preparing himself to be as ready as possible in April.

"His continued growth in our offense and schemes will be a natural thing. He's a really smart player. I think he's going to be able to use a lot of that experience of those 10 games in the journey so far to get himself in position to have the best 2026 he can. We've talked about it, we want him to be in a competitive situation because of some of that time lost," O'Connell said.

Murray and Wentz are now his competition.

"We've really got to push the gas pedal down and not replace development and coaching and teaching with anything but really enhance it with a really competitive situation that I think our whole team will benefit from," O'Connell said.