With 'Immense' Support from Vikings, Dots Connect Kyler Murray to Minnesota

When you connect the dots in the Kyler Murray rumor mill, most of them lead to Minnesota.

The latest dot linking the soon-to-be free agent to the Vikings comes from beat reporter Alec Lewis, who says there is "immense internal support" for Murray within the walls at TCO Performance Center in Eagan.

"There is immense internal support from a lot of different people on Kyler Murray. I would say even some of the Vikings players appreciate what Kyler has done within the NFL," Lewis said Wednesday on his podcast. "I could definitely see it happening because it checks a lot of the boxes that the Vikings are after."

When you break it all down, there are really only five dots needed to complete the Murray-to-Minnesota movement.

Murray will be released by the Cardinals on March 11
Murray can sign for the league minimum of $1.3 million
Vikings are allegedly where all of the top available quarterbacks want to go
Murray was a Vikings fan growing up
Allegedly immense internal support for Murray in Minnesota

It's unclear how many teams are actually interested in Murray, but there are six rumored potential landing spots, including the Vikings, Jets, Dolphins, Falcons, Steelers, and Rams.

If Murray wants to succeed and actually play, the Jets and Rams can probably be eliminated as true contenders because the Jets stink, and Matthew Stafford is still the starting quarterback for the Rams. If it's down to the Vikings, Dolphins, Falcons, and Steelers, then it might get a bit more interesting, but if Jeremy Fowler is correct that all of the top available quarterbacks want to play for Minnesota, then it isn't complicated at all.

"For all of us, we've all sort of had Minnesota marked as the best destination for a quarterback," Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer told Rich Eisen. "He'd have the ability to go in and maybe go into a competition with J.J. McCarthy to be the quarterback there and get the chance to do what Sam Darnold did a couple of years ago in Minnesota. I have Minnesota at the top of the list."

There are questions about how Murray actually fits in O'Connell's offense. For example, he's played a lot more in the shotgun than under center, so both Murray and O'Connell will have to make some adjustments to make the fit seamless. But he's completed about 68% of his passes in seven NFL seasons, and he would give Minnesota's offense an extra gear with his mobility and ability to extend plays.

And as we've noted before, Murray was dynamite when he was throwing to DeAndre Hopkins in Arizona. With Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, he could easily return to Pro Bowl form in a very quarterback-friendly offense.

One scenario where Murray doesn't make the most sense is if Aaron Rodgers enters the picture and the Vikings want to have J.J. McCarthy learn under Rodgers for a year before being handed the starting QB keys (again) in 2027.