One way or the other, the Minnesota Vikings need to add a veteran quarterback to pair with J.J. McCarthy. There are options in free agency, like Jameis Winston, Joe Flacco, and, of course, Aaron Rodgers. Ideally, McCarthy is ready to be the starter, and all of the Rodgers reports and speculation will not hover over the situation much longer.
Of course, it's also possible to trade for an experienced veteran signal-caller to join McCarthy on the depth chart. A current team may not be willing to part with a quarterback like that, but there are situations the Vikings could target.
Among those potential options on the trade market, we can safely rule out someone like Anthony Richardson, who is no longer locked into the starting job with the Indianapolis Colts. Adding someone on the younger side who could theoretically compete with McCarthy for the starting job is on the lower end of possible outcomes. But having some with experience is a prerequisite.
On that front, two Vikings reporters have talked about the possibility of a trade for someone. The Athletic's Alec Lewis has mentioned a couple of names. During an appearance with Paul Allen on KFXN-FM radio on Tuesday, Ben Goessling of the Minnesota Star Tribune hit the same note.
"I wouldn't be stunned if a trade becomes a possibility at some point if there's somebody out there they like."
So let's look at some trade options for the Vikings as they (hopefully) move to put the Rodgers speculation to bed.
4 potential backup QB options for the Minnesota Vikings on the trade market
John Wolford (Jacksonville Jaguars)
The 29-year-old John Wolford has not taken a regular season snaps since 2022 with the Los Angeles Rams, spending 2023 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and last season on the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad.
Wolford started a playoff game in place of an injured Jared Goff for the Rams in 2020. He overlapped with Vikings offensive coordinator Wes Phillips in Los Angeles from 2019-2021, and with head coach Kevin O'Connell for the last two of those years.
The Jaguars have kept Wolford down their quarterback depth chart by signing former Viking Nick Mullens. So he's likely available, with a base salary of just over $1 million as well as familiarity with Vikings' coaches. Something a little better than a bag of deflated footballs is probably all it would take to acquire him.
Aidan O'Connell (Las Vegas Raiders)
The Raiders bumped Aidan O'Connell down their depth chart with the recent acquisition of Geno Smith, and they seem likely to take a quarterback somewhere in April's draft to bump the third-year man down another spot.
By default of circumstance more than anything, O'Connell started 17 games for the Raiders over the past two seasons. If not for a couple of injuries last season, he probably would have started more than seven contests. Overall, he played at a replaceable level and the Raiders have replaced him.
The questions here are clear. Would the Raiders trade O'Connell? What would it take to acquire him if so? Right now the Vikings lack draft capital this year (four total picks), and it might not be noticeably better in 2026. But it's moving toward a point where the Raiders will have a No. 3 quarterback who's some degree of a tradeable asset, and teams who are looking for a backup stand to be calling.
Sam Howell (Seattle Seahawks)
After letting him take his lumps over 17 starts in 2023 (the un-ideal combo of league-highs in pass attempts and sacks taken), the Washington Commanders gave Sam Howell a goodbye "thanks for the effort" by trading him to the Seahawks in 2024. Last season as Geno Smith's backup, he appeared in two games with 14 pass attempts.
A huge downgrade in talent around him for his final year in college at North Carolina dropped Howell from a potential high draft pick to a fifth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft by Washington. Remove a three-interception season opener from that 2021 season though, and it looks marked better. In theory, that raw talent is still in him somewhere, and a run through "Kevin O'Connell QB School" could be beneficial to his career.
O'Connell and Howell were the potential trade targets Lewis mentioned in his recent piece for The Athletic. Former Minnesota 2023 fifth-round pick Jaren Hall, currently with the Seahawks, is another possible option.
Davis Mills (Houston Texans)
After starting 26 games for the Texans over his first two seasons (2021 and 2022), Davis Mills was of course replaced by C.J. Stroud in 2023. So he has made 10 appearances with 75 pass attempts over the last two seasons as Stroud's backup, and it's been easy to connect him to trade speculation all along.
The Texans being as bad as they were in the first years of the post-Deshaun Watson era did Mills no favors (5-19-1 record as the starter). But he was objectively solid in the most extensive action of his career (63.6 percent completion rate, 33 touchdowns, 25 interceptions, 10.4 yards per completion, six 300-yard games), and he's still only 26-years-old.
Mills signed a one-year contract extension with the Texans last year. His $3.6 million base salary is on the higher side compared to other backups who could be available via trade, but the Vikings have the cap space to easily take that on if they want to.