When Kyler Murray takes the first snap in Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers, he will be the fourth different season-opening quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings in as many seasons. And if things go a certain way, there could be a fifth in as many seasons come next year at this time.
The potential Murray only spends one season under center for the Vikings; whatever drives that, good or bad, is nothing new.
There have been so many one-and-done quarterbacks in franchise history; our own Adam Patrick is making a series of articles out of it. Because that quarterback didn't meet the inclusion criteria, that series will be missing a notable and memorable one-off season in franchise history.
ESPN's Kevin Seifert has closely covered the Vikings in some capacity for as long as anyone can remember. If anyone can credibly tap into the quarterback carousel that has existed for decades, truly dating back to when Fran Tarkenton retired after the 1978 season, it is him.
Minnesota Vikings quarterback carousel anecdote puts them in some miserable company
Seifert has taken a long look at what he fairly labeled the Vikings' "tragicomic" quarterback history. There have been Hall of Famers, first-round picks and everything in between over the last three-plus decades.
Seifert used 1993, the year unrestricted free agency as we know it started, as a cutoff point. With that, the Vikings are in some dismal quarterbacking company.
"Barring injury or an unexpected level of ineffectiveness, Murray will finish this season as the 18th different quarterback to lead the Vikings in passing since the NFL's free agency era began in 1993. The only teams with more are the Cleveland Browns (20) and Washington Commanders (19), according to ESPN Research."
The Browns' quarterback history since returning to the NFL in 1999 is so bad that there's a single jersey listing all the names who have started games. The Washington franchise hasn't been much better, with striking overlap with the Vikings in quarterbacks who have started for them since 1993.
How many of those 17 leading passers for the Vikings in a season since 1993 can you name without looking? Let's look at the list:
- 1993
Jim McMahon
- 1994
Warren Moon
- 1995
Moon
- 1996
Brad Johnson
- 1997
Johnson
- 1998
Randall Cunningham
- 1999
Jeff George
- 2000
Daunte Culpepper
- 2001
Culpepper
- 2002
Culpepper
- 2003
Culpepper
- 2004
Culpepper
- 2005
Johnson (second stint)
- 2006
Johnson
- 2007
Tarvaris Jackson
- 2008
Gus Frerotte
- 2009
Brett Favre
- 2010
Favre
- 2011
Christian Ponder
- 2012
Ponder
- 2013
Matt Cassel
- 2014
Teddy Bridgewater
- 2015
Bridgewater
- 2016
Sam Bradford
- 2017
Case Keenum
- 2018
Kirk Cousins
- 2019
Cousins
- 2020
Cousins
- 2021
Cousins
- 2022
Cousins
- 2023
Cousins
- 2024
Sam Darnold
- 2025
J.J. McCarthy
What's remarkable is how Daunte Culpepper and Kirk Cousins combined to account for 11 of those last 33 seasons as the Vikings' leading passer. Brad Johnson, in two separate stints, totaled four. So 14 other guys have covered the remaining 18 seasons, with an expected average of about 1.25 seasons per.
Murray could put an end to the Vikings' quarterback carousel for a few years, or they could just as easily be right back on it next offseason. If history is any indication, we know what will happen, however it happens.
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