The world knew the Minnesota Vikings were going to add a quarterback this offseason. The cache of that addition was also going to tell us all we needed to know about how they view 2004 first-round draft pick, J.J. McCarthy.
As Kyler Murray trended toward being cut by the Arizona Cardinals, rumors tying him to the Vikings ramped up. He was brought in, as we know, on a one-year deal for the veteran's minimum. He also became the Vikings' No. 1 quarterback, even if head coach Kevin O'Connell will push the idea of equal competition until he can no longer.
While McCarthy will have a chance to show himself as the best man for the job, he will have to clearly be better than Murray to be the Vikings' Week 1 starter. To say that's hard for anyone to envision, including reporters who can actually see the forest for the trees, is an understatement.
But from now until a Week 1 starter has to be named, expect O'Connell and any reporters who are willing to be a carrier of that agenda to try to profess it'll be an equal competition for the starting job.
An analyst offers a theory behind the Minnesota Vikings' quarterback competition narrative
On a recent episode of SKOR North's "Purple Daily", co-host Judd Zulgad offered some surprise cut or trade candidates for the Vikings before Week 1. McCarthy led the list, as a trade candidate since he will obviously not be cut.
On that note, Zulgad went all the way to how it could come to fruition.
"We continue to hear this is gonna be a competition, it's gonna be a competition, you guys don't understand", Zulgad said. "No matter what you think, it's gonna be a competition. No matter what you see on, beginning next week at OTAs, this is a competition."
"I've been thinking about, what's going on here? What's the incentive to continue to say this, despite the fact I think it's going to be a dog and pony show."
After saying he thinks the Vikings are trying to do a lot of things by maintaining the idea of a quarterback competition, Zulgad used one as the launch point for his viewpoint.
"I think one of the things they're trying to do here, is make it clear to the rest of the league that they still see J.J. McCarthy as a viable quarterback. I also think he's gonna play a bunch in the preseason. I also think, like, if they've decided that they're out, and I'm not saying that they have..."
"But let's just say for the sake of this. They brought Kyler in, Carson Wentz is back as the backup. Let's say that they've decided 10 starts, we've seen enough, we're out of the J.J. McCarthy business."
Zulgad noted how the timing to trade McCarthy, if it has been anywhere on the Vikings' radar, is not now or at any other point earlier this offseason. But if he gets a lot of first-team reps in the preseason and plays well while a notable quarterback injury occurs elsewhere, a potential path to trading him at peak value could exist.
Of course, Zulgad's entire premise assumes there's an actual facade when it comes to McCarthy as a legit threat to win the starting job, with the addition of the Vikings deciding they're all the way out on him.
The facade of competition part is widely assumed at this point. But if the Vikings are moving toward being out on McCarthy completely, showcasing him during preseason games would make all the sense in the world.
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