The Vikings' QB Competition Looks Over, But J.J. McCarthy's Time in Minnesota Shouldn't Be

The Vikings have more than enough reasons to keep the 23-year-old QB around.

Just because he might have lost the Vikings' QB battle doesn't mean that J.J. McCarthy's time in Minnesota is over. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

During the Vikings’ third practice of training camp, the gap between Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy was significant. Murray was sharp, and the ball never hit the ground, while McCarthy had bouts of inconsistency. 

It wasn’t much different than what we expected going into training camp, considering Murray has thrown about 2,000 more passes in his NFL career than McCarthy has since high school. 

Some folks in the media and on the interwebs were ready to call the quarterback competition after that practice. It’s probably fair to say that if it were a boxing match, McCarthy would be having Mick cut his eye in the corner. 

If the QB competition indeed goes to Murray in the coming weeks, the question is going to be raised: What should happen to McCarthy? 

Examining what McCarthy's future could look like post-QB competition

The unpredictable nature of the NFL might suggest that you should never let a quarterback leave the building unless he’s retiring—and even then, Randall Cunningham came out of retirement to produce one of the best offensive seasons in history in 1998. 

In recent years, we have seen a rash of quarterbacks who have been written off as youngsters turn into quality starters or more in another location. Whether it’s Ryan Tannehill finding his way in Tennessee or Geno Smith becoming Seattle’s QB1 or Baker Mayfield turning a QB competition in Tampa Bay with Kyle Trask into a playoff win or Sam Darnold becoming the player everyone dreamed about seven years after he was drafted, there’s at least enough evidence that quarterbacks can grow and develop with time.

Of course, all of those examples include the QB going to another team. Those examples also took years to come to fruition. Tannehill was 31 years old when he arrived with the Titans. Mayfield signed with the Bucs at age 28. Darnold was 27 when the Vikings picked him up. Smith was 32 when he became the starter in Seattle.

The Vikings don’t have a seven-year rookie contract with McCarthy, but that doesn’t mean that they should walk away from him if Murray is given the job.

The Vikings might want to give J.J. McCarthy more rope even if he loses the QB competition to Kyler Murray. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The most obvious reason for that would be that football can toss curveballs at you, and nobody knows that better than the Vikings. In 2023, they got masterful performances from Kirk Cousins in back-to-back wins over the 49ers and Packers, and then he tore his Achilles. Cousins had been the healthiest player in the NFL until that point. The Vikings are the same team that lost Teddy Bridgewater to a freak non-contact injury before the 2016 season and had to trade for Sam Bradford. 

It doesn’t take an active imagination to envision plenty of scenarios where McCarthy could still be called upon in 2026.

Trading him post-QB competition would leave the Vikings with only Carson Wentz as the backup. The former Eagles starter held his own in five games last year and was able to run head coach Kevin O’Connell’s offense, but at nearly 34 years old, it would be a lot to ask him to start more than a handful of games. If Murray went down early in the season, at least they could find out how much McCarthy has developed and whether he still has a chance to be a starter in Minnesota with another year on his rookie contract. 

If the Vikings don’t trade him, it would give them more time in practice to assess McCarthy's progress as well. And that doesn’t just mean when it comes to command of the offense or throwing technique. One thing that stands out about all the QBs who succeeded is that they were able to overcome some moments where it looked like their time as a starter was over. Smith was a backup for years. Tannehill was QB2 to Marcus Mariota when he arrived with the Titans. The Vikings would have a chance to see whether McCarthy has some resolve and resilience. 

Wait and see

Not all quarterbacks just need more time. The Vikings know that from their time with Christian Ponder, who was out of the league shortly after they parted ways with him. But if we know anything about the quarterback position, it’s that we don’t know anything about the quarterback position. 

Christian Ponder's career is the perfect reminder of how unpredictable QBs can be. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

If O’Connell can still facilitate a situation where McCarthy can improve behind the scenes in a Jordan Love-ish or Malik Willis-ish development environment, and McCarthy can put aside hurt feelings after being anointed the franchise quarterback only to have Murray arrive and take over the wheel, the story doesn’t have to end here for the former Michigan QB.

If McCarthy does let frustrations seep in and does allow the adversity to weigh too heavily on him, then it’s going to be difficult to someday add his name to the list of QBs who just needed a little more time to thrive.