With Sam Darnold's departure now about a 99.9 percent lock, the Minnesota Vikings can move forward with J.J. McCarthy as their starting quarterback. They will surely add a veteran in free agency to serve as the No. 2 quarterback/a mentor to McCarthy, and there are some options there. Including Daniel Jones, last year's midseason addition who seems to have other options.
In concert with Tom Pelissero's report about the Vikings not being expected to re-sign Darnold, his fellow NFL Network insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo each had reports attaching Aaron Rodgers to the Vikings.
Garafolo reported the four-time league MVP "could be in play" for the Vikings. Rapoport reported Rodgers is considering the New York Giants, while the Vikings are a "dark horse" to sign him. Dianna Russini of The Athletic has added the Vikings could show interest in Rodgers if they can't re-sign Jones.
At first thought, it's fun to consider Rodgers completing the "Brett Favre Prophecy" by going from the the Packers to the Jets and finally the Vikings before his career is over. But this is not 2009, when the Vikings added Favre, and the Vikings' situation is way different now than it was then.
Aaron Rodgers is a headache Kevin O'Connell and the Minnesota Vikings will not take on
Rodgers would likely want to go somewhere he would be the unquestioned starter. Those options are not plentiful, though the Pittsburgh Steelers makes sense as a good team that is in the market for a quarterback. The Giants also make some sense, with some win-now pressure on the general manager and head coach there. Others, like the Browns and Titans, don't appear to have any interest.
We can debate over and over about where Rodgers is skill-wise at 41 years old. But such as any team would want him, they have to consider everything else he comes with. Some of that stuff is too-easily overblown, but there's no denying the weight of his presence on any situation he arrives to.
The Vikings would not automatically make Rodgers their starting quarterback if they signed him. Well, they shouldn't anyway. McCarthy may or not be fully healthy and deemed ready to start Week 1 next season, but the shadow Rodgers casts would make for an awkward situation one way or the other.
If Rodgers is the Week 1 starter and he's struggling while McCarthy is ready to go, that would be a thing. If McCarthy is the guy and struggles early, Rodgers would be lurking as his replacement with his weekly appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" as a public spotlight for him to casually hint he should take over.
The Vikings signing someone who could step in if McCarthy is not ready to start is a good idea. But if we know anything about head coach Kevin O'Connell, and he will have input into who it is, whoever it is will not impede McCarthy's development with his mere presence. Rodgers would be more of an impediment than a help based on that alone, even if he's theoretically willing to mentor a young quarterback.