Despite the best efforts of some reporters to push it, the Minnesota Vikings and Aaron Rodgers never seemed like an ideal match. The four-time MVP surely would have loved to complete his version of the "Brett Favre Prophecy", and play for long-time friend Kevin O'Connell, but O'Connell confirmed the extent of those conversations during a recent appearance on KFAN.
"When there was an opportunity — when him and I connected this offseason just to kind of talk about what that would look like — we had a lot of great dialogue about it, but it always was centered around what was best not only for the present in the Minnesota Vikings organization, but the future.
I was very honest about my feelings towards J.J., my obligation that I felt like we were going to give him the best possible situation to begin and thrive on this NFL journey, and let's see where it goes. We stayed in touch and had some communication...
Out of respect for our friendship and everything, that's about as much as really kind of happened."
Rodgers has now of course signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. So the idea of him waiting to see what happened with the Vikings, and for J.J. McCarthy to fail in one fashion or another, is officially put to bed.
The Minnesota Vikings had another obvious reason to reject Aaron Rodgers
The Vikings have been here to some degree multiple times before--"A quarterback away from..." After an offseason spending spree, topped only by the rebuilding New England Patriots, the biggest question mark is how McCarthy will perform after missing his entire rookie season.
Adding the 41-year old Rodgers, apart from putting a big pause on McCarthy's development or the cost of his contract, would've meant the Vikings being "all-in" with him. The New York Jets willingly did it two years ago, adding players he wanted, etc., and we see how that worked out. There's also risk of dealing with the implications of being "all-in" on a one-year window with Rodgers for years to come, in terms of dead money, etc.
On "SportsCenter" Sunday morning, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler confirmed the window the Vikings have with McCarthy as their starting quarterback.
"(They) saw this as a three-year window right now to win a championship with a really good quarterback they like on a rookie deal", Fowler said, via Bleacher Report.
McCarthy, without the Vikings picking up his fifth-year option, has three years left on his rookie contract. His highest cap hit over that span is just shy of $7 million.
The Vikings were finally in a position to get off the contract carousel with Kirk Cousins by taking a quarterback of the future in the 2024 draft. They had to wait a year to start reaping the rewards of that reset, but they are now in an enviable window to try to win big with a quarterback on a rookie contract.