The Minnesota Vikings were in the market for a veteran quarterback to back up J.J. McCarthy this offseason. As free agent options were spoken for, they had to go another route. On Day 3 of the draft in April, they paid off years of interest in Sam Howell by acquiring him from the Seattle Seahawks.
It seems like Howell is a lead-pipe lock to be McCarthy's backup over Brett Rypien. But there is a theoretically open competition for the job, and Judd Zulgad of SKOR North reinforced that idea as training camp neared.
After offering the idea that Rypien is a serious candidate to beat out Howell, Zulgad offered another tentacle.
"If it does not go well in training camp and preseason games", Zulgad said...."would the Vikings bail out on Howell and look elsewhere?"
Zulgad talked about the reaction he gets when he suggests the Vikings' backup quarterback situation is somewhat in flux, on the idea if McCarthy gets hurt it won't matter. But that's where, as Zulgad added, owner Mark Wilf's comments from after Kirk Cousins got hurt in 2023 are notable. Multiple options were used then, but losing your quarterback is not a reason to bail when the roster otherwise looks like it does this year.
The bottom line is this. If Howell can't beat Rypien out for the backup quarterback spot, that would be a concern and a good reason to look outside the organization.
The Minnesota Vikings have a nice potential contingency option if the backup QB battle goes awry
However preemptively at this early stage of training camp, Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report listed out some quarterbacks teams should pursue via trade right now. The general concept is options to fortify what could be an iffy backup situation, which fits right in with where some might say the Vikings are right now.
So naturally, Knox listed the Vikings as a potential landing spot for one of the quarterbacks he listed: Jameis Winston, who felt like a nice free agent option for them before he signed with the New York Giants.
"While Winston can be an effective spot starter and is a tremendous locker room leader, he should most interest teams looking for a dedicated backup and mentor. The Minnesota Vikings and Titans would both make sense."
"While Minnesota did trade for Sam Howell this offseason, it doesn't have a ton of experience behind second-year quarterback and first-year starter J.J. McCarthy."
Winston has made a nice career transition, from the erratic quarterback he was early with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to being a veteran mentor, and a team leader in the ensuing years. He still has a lot of "YOLO" to his game, but if you like your backup quarterback to be capable and interesting Winston is that guy.
Head coach Brian Daboll has already declared Russell Wilson as the Giants Week 1 starter, and if/when he proves to be insufficient rookie Jaxson Dart would be most likely to take over. So Winston is currently in the vague middle ground, where's not the starter but he's also not the first in line to step in via whatever circumstance might bring a change.
Until further notice, Winston is a prime trade target for teams who may be looking to upgrade their backup quarterback situation. That scenario is vaguely in play for the Vikings right now, and if it becomes a legit thing at some point, the former No. 1 overall pick should be high on their list of outside options.