In his first season as the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, J.J. McCarthy proved that he still has a long way to go if he's ever going to meet the expectations that were given to him when the team selected him with the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
On Sunday, McCarthy and the Vikings wrapped up their 2025 season with a meaningless win over the Green Bay Packers. The second-year signal-caller only appeared in half of the matchup because of his lingering hand injury, but even before his exit, he left plenty to be desired with his play.
After Sunday's season finale, McCarthy was asked if he felt like he's earned the right to be Minnesota's starting quarterback going into next season, and the young passer's response made it seem like he knows his chances of remaining the team's QB1 in 2026 aren't very high.
"After today, maybe. But tomorrow, there's nothing promised, and the next day, there's nothing promised. That's something I take very seriously.
It's not something that you buy, and you get for the rest of your life. You rent it, you lease it every single day, and I'm just trying to make daily deposits to make sure I'm in this house for a long time."
Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy knows big changes are likely coming in 2026
Looking back, the Vikings completely whiffed with their decision to go with an inexperienced, 22-year-old quarterback as their starter for the 2025 season, especially after winning 14 games in 2024.
McCarthy's struggles were not unusual for a young quarterback, which makes it even more confusing that Minnesota essentially went into the 2025 campaign without a Plan B in case his performance turned out to be too difficult to overcome, which it did.
Instead, the Vikings basically went all-in with McCarthy as their starter while also expecting to compete for a spot in the playoffs. In the end, Minnesota would have been better off sticking to just one of these paths instead of attempting to travel down both at the same time.
The majority of the Vikings' 2025 roster was constructed for the team to be an NFC contender this season. But McCarthy's development clearly wasn't at the level that allowed Minnesota to meet its expectations for the year, and that's on the coaching staff and front office for not evaluating his progress properly.
During the next few months, the Vikings will need to figure out what path they would like to take before the 2026 season.
Is Minnesota okay with going through another year of McCarthy possibly struggling in the hopes that he will eventually make the right strides in his development? Or will the Vikings' lack of patience result in the team bringing in someone else to start under center and pressing pause on the McCarthy experience?
Based on what McCarthy said on Sunday, it seems like he already knows which direction Minnesota is heading toward.