The Minnesota Vikings are now in the middle of a training camp battle to decide their starting quarterback for the 2026 season. But regardless of whether Kyler Murray or J.J. McCarthy comes out on top, there will still be questions about who their starter will be for the 2027 season and beyond.
Murray and McCarthy are two likely names that could be under center next season, but another name that Vikings fans could keep their eye on is Baker Mayfield.
Entering the final year of his contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Mayfield and the Bucs have reportedly made “no real progress” in extension talks and will play out the remainder of his deal, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Jenna Laine.
The latest development, along with Mike Evans’s departure to the San Francisco 49ers in free agency and Vita Vea’s trade request, could also lead Mayfield out of Tampa Bay.
That leaves a path for him to come to Minnesota next spring if things don’t go well with Murray or McCarthy, but it could also create a tough situation where the Vikings are back on the quarterback carousel for the foreseeable future.
Baker Mayfield represents another ride on the Minnesota Vikings QB carousel
Winning a championship is the No.1 thing the Vikings have on their wish list, but finding a franchise quarterback is a close second.
It’s why fans clung so tightly to Kirk Cousins as he won one playoff game over six years, and some are doing the same with McCarthy, with hopes he can recover from a tough first season as a starter to become a long-term solution.
But Vikings history has suggested they’ll continue to ride the carousel. While Fran Tarkenton held down the starting quarterback job in the 1970s, the Vikings haven’t found a real solution since.
Since Dennis Green was hired as head coach in 1992, the Vikings have used 33 different starting quarterbacks, and that number could climb to 34 if Murray wins the starting job as expected during training camp.
Even if Murray wins the job and plays well, he could create another “Sam Darnold” decision where the Vikings may have to commit big money or let him walk for nothing, and it creates a big hole to fill in 2027.
A prudent approach could see the Vikings taking a swing on a quarterback in the 2027 draft, but as McCarthy has shown so far, that’s not guaranteed to work.
The Vikings could also look for their next version of Darnold, signing another quarterback to a low-risk deal and praying he follows the footsteps of him, Randall Cunningham, and Case Keenum as some of the biggest one-hit wonders in franchise history, and if Mayfield is available, all roads could lead to him.
Baker Mayfield may not be the pipe dream Minnesota Vikings fans are hoping for
Mayfield’s game feels like it fits with Kevin O’Connell. He works for the pocket, hunts for big plays, and is willing to take risks.
While that led to an NFL-high 16 interceptions in 2024, it also came with 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns and has parallels between himself and Matthew Stafford as two quarterbacks who were destined for the “Hall of Really Good” entering their mid-30s.
Stafford got a golden ticket after he was traded by the Detroit Lions and worked with Sean McVay. A Lombardi Trophy and an MVP Award later, and the change of scenery worked well for Stafford, and Vikings fans could talk themselves into the same thing happening for Mayfield.
Mayfield will be 33 next season, which is the same age that Stafford was when he arrived in Los Angeles in 2021.
O’Connell is also a member of McVay’s coaching tree, which helped Mayfield revive his career during a brief stint with the Rams during the 2022 season.
Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison are elite weapons to throw to, and when you look at Mayfield’s No. 6, it’s just an upside-down version of Stafford’s No. 9.
Perhaps the last note is a little weird (and Vikings fans may never want a quarterback to wear No. 9 again if McCarthy flames out).
But while Mayfield could become “The Next Stafford” or “The Next Darnold,” he’s more likely to become whatever McCarthy or Murray may bring to the Vikings next season.
Also, by paying Mayfield, the Vikings would essentially be repeating their history with Cousins. Joining a team that had Super Bowl aspirations after the 2017 season, Cousins arrived in 2018 and didn’t make the playoffs in his first year.
While countless memes and dad jokes followed, Cousins won just one single playoff game over six years, and the Vikings paid top dollar the entire time.
So Vikings fans could believe that Mayfield betting on himself and playing well could lead the quarterback they’ve been looking for to find their way to Minnesota. But it also could be another version of Cousins that leads Minnesota nowhere and has them grabbing onto a fake unicorn while chasing a real one.
There are landmines for any quarterback the Vikings could pursue between now and the start of the 2027 season, but the warning signs and consequences may be too loud to ignore.
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