The Minnesota Vikings made an important decision when Kevin O’Connell announced that J.J. McCarthy will be the third-string quarterback behind Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz for their season opener against the Green Bay Packers.
Despite the decision effectively burying McCarthy from ever starting a game for the Vikings again, O’Connell rattled off how excited he was to work with him this season and how McCarthy is “two plays away” from seeing action.
Just 24 hours later, ESPN’s Adam Schefter painted a different picture. Appearing on ESPN’s "Get Up" show on Thursday, Schefter said that the decision to move McCarthy to the third-string quarterback role was something that many saw coming and also believes the two sides “are stuck with each other” until next offseason.
“I know people are probably surprised by this, but I don’t think it was a big surprise at all in the football community.
...I think from the moment Kyler Murray won that job, there’s a reason they signed Carson Wentz. They signed Carson Wentz as a veteran backup. And with J.J. McCarthy there, they’ve made the decision to use him as the No. 3.
Now I know [people will] say, ‘Trade him now, trade him. J.J. McCarthy’s already said he doesn’t want to be traded.
[He] wants to be in Minnesota this year, and it’s probably best for both sides to spend the year together before they explore a divorce.
It’s not an ideal marriage this season in Minnesota, but they’re sort of stuck with each other for the time being.”
Schefter’s analogy is similar to a struggling relationship that stays together so the kids can finish school, or one that has a baby in an attempt to save it.
But it feels like every time the two sides try to patch things up and move on, another report like Schefter’s comes along, making a split between the two sides inevitable.
Minnesota Vikings have been sending mixed signals on J.J. McCarthy before his QB3 demotion
The one thing that Schefter nailed is that McCarthy’s demotion to third string was something most saw coming.
He lost a training camp competition to Murray for the starting job and then struggled during the preseason, most notably missing touchdown passes to Tai Felton and Myles Price before exiting the second preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens with an ankle injury.
After missing the preseason finale against the Denver Broncos due to that injury, it felt like the backup job was Wentz’s to win. But it felt that way even before McCarthy took part in O’Connell’s competition this summer.
The NFL’s league year opened on March 11, and Murray signed the following day, but Wentz signed with the Vikings on March 19.
That signing looks like a random fact, but it was notable considering that Wentz sat out until late last August while trying to find a starting opportunity before ultimately signing with the Vikings.
Signing that quickly indicated that a larger role was offered. But O’Connell and his staff still acted like Detective Lieutenant Frank Drebin in front of a fireworks factory.
From there, anything the Vikings did regarding McCarthy was met with an instant contradiction. In their minds, O’Connell didn’t refer to McCarthy as a “former captain” this summer.
He noted that captains are voted on a yearly basis. Offensive coordinator Wes Phillips was willing to reveal that McCarthy had a “continuous upward arrow” during OTAs but wouldn’t go further, saying the media was “going to dig into every side-eye look or anything you can” from his comments.
There was also the quarterback competition, which felt even at times during the opening weeks of camp, only for O’Connell to dub Murray the starter because he had “shown enough to really project what he could look like “ in his scheme, according to The Athletic’s Alec Lewis.
And we wouldn’t be talking about McCarthy without a good, old-fashioned injury controversy. After initially presenting McCarthy’s injury as day-to-day, Schefter emerged calling it “week-to-week” as trade speculation ran wild ahead of the 53-man roster deadline.
With The Ringer’s Tom Pelissero also suggesting that the Vikings tried to trade McCarthy but couldn’t find a way to bring down his salary before that deadline, it’s clear both sides want to move on, but neither can say it publicly.
It’s painfully obvious the Minnesota Vikings must move on from J.J. McCarthy
With this, the two Schefter reports make sense, because if you give a “Michigan Man” an extra second, they’ll take advantage.
This is also not an endorsement for McCarthy to have a bigger role, as none of this would have happened if he had shown improvement during training camp and his two preseason games.
Instead, this is more of O’Connell offering a hearty helping of word salad. He can’t come out and say that McCarthy is the worst of his three quarterbacks, especially as his hand-chosen general manager is trying to trade him.
But there’s a better chance that O’Connell will throw McCarthy into the same metaphorical broom closet that Mike Zimmer threw Kellen Mond into during the 2021 season (or perhaps the one McCarthy was in after suffering a torn meniscus that wiped out his rookie season).
This may also be part of the reason why some Vikings fans don’t trust O’Connell going into this season as a head coach who can take you to the playoffs but fails to go any further.
With a lack of adjustments until it was too late, O’Connell’s pride may be the reason why McCarthy is still on the roster, and the two sides remain in a staring contest until a suitor comes along.
In the end, it may take a significant injury elsewhere for the two sides to finally part ways. But for now, there may be a lot of fake smiles and fake compliments until McCarthy and the Vikings truly get what they want.
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