The Minnesota Vikings left the 2024 season with some major unanswered questions at the quarterback position. That they remain in a similar spot some nine months later can’t be sitting well with Vikings fans.
Now five weeks into the 2025 regular season, head coach Kevin O’Connell and the Vikings enter their bye without a clear plan at QB1. Is it still J.J. McCarthy, as soon as his high-ankle sprain allows him to get back on the field? Or has veteran Carson Wentz shown enough during what’s been a three-week trial run to justify an extended look?
It all boils down to a frustrating situation for Minnesota, which went all-in on McCarthy at the start of 2025 free agency and has little choice now but to see it through.
For a team that had three former first-round draft prospects in Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones, and McCarthy all on the same roster just nine months ago, it’s becoming more glaring by the week which player the team should regret parting with the most.
Decision by the Minnesota Vikings to let QB Daniel Jones leave in free agency has not aged well
Darnold’s 2024 Pro Bowl season earned him plenty of fanfare in the Twin Cities. But even after 14 wins and a playoff berth, few fans batted an eye when the Vikings passed on a multi-year, $100 million contract for the 28-year-old journeyman.
The Vikings spent enough time with Darnold to make an informed decision on his future with the team, especially in regards to McCarthy’s timeline. The situation with Jones was much more straightforward, with fewer emotional strings attached.
The Vikings needed a veteran QB to pair with McCarthy in 2025. In a perfect world, that player would fit the same mold as Darnold did for them in 2024 — a guy who’s been around, remains in his prime, and can be signed at a reasonable salary on a one-year contract.
Jones represented the perfect puzzle piece. He was exiled by the New York Giants, found a new home for a few months on Minnesota's practice squad, and was always expected to sign some sort of prove-it deal in 2025 free agency.
The Vikings had leverage over his market after signing him in late November. As a potential Plan B from Darnold, the stars couldn't have aligned better.
Ultimately, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah concluded that a fourth-round compensatory pick in the 2026 NFL Draft offered more value than a salary cap hit in the range of $14 million, which is what Jones got from the Indianapolis Colts on his one-year deal. Knowing how the Vikings do business, they were likely 100 percent right on that calculation.
But entering Week 6, Jones has exploded into the NFL’s biggest steal of 2025 free agency. The Colts are 4-1 atop the AFC South, and Jones currently ranks third in the NFL in passing yards and first overall in QBR.
Daniel Jones Through 5 Weeks:
— Sam Block (@theblockspot) October 5, 2025
• 4-1 record
• 1346 yards
• 9 touchdowns
• 2 interceptions
Keep doubting him if you want.
Colts have their guy for the next decade.
It’s fair for Vikings fans to feel frustrated over what’s been an exhausting situation. The pivot to Sam Howell backfired by the end of training camp, and Minnesota had little choice but to kick the tires on Wentz, who wasn’t even on an NFL roster this summer.
The Vikings desperately need McCarthy to get back on the field and prove that he’s ready to be the guy now. It's beginning to feel like Week 7 against Philadelphia will be the time that happens.
If he’s not ready? History won’t look back kindly on the team’s decision-making at the most important position in sports, in a year when Minnesota was clearly entering a championship window.