The mistakes of the past inform the decisions that come after. For the Minnesota Vikings, the mistake they made in anointing J.J. McCarthy as their starting quarterback last offseason will not be repeated this offseason.
The Vikings will be adding a quarterback this offseason, via free agency or a trade, to compete with (if not replace) McCarthy as the starter. It's easy to dream of big names or try to be optimistic about someone who lands as the "next best option" after those names get bandied about. But there are options, and that's better than the alternative of having to force running it back with McCarthy.
ESPN Vikings beat writer Kevin Seifert was in the studio with Dan Barreiro of KFAN radio on Wednesday. The offseason for the Purple was the obvious focus.
Seifert recently wrote "all bets are off" when it comes to the Vikings adding a quarterback this offseason. As a former writer, Barreiro teased Seifert about that wording, but it spurred a good discussion about what that means and the options that are out there.
There are, of course, various degrees of likelihood depending on which potential quarterback addition you're talking about, and the conversation between Barreiro and Seifert made direct reference to a list of 10 quarterback options from Vikings OnSI's Joe Nelson.
Insider won't rule out Aaron Rodgers joining Minnesota Vikings in 2026 yet
Going write down Nelson's list, 1-10, and asking Seifert about each quarterback on it, Barreiro got to No. 6.
Aaron Rodgers.
"I mean, there’s still some people in the building, I think, who are fans.
People have said, ‘Well, if Rodgers is going to play next year, it’ll be with the Steelers because of Mike McCarthy.’ And I do think that they have managed to patch up whatever was plaguing them at the end of their time together in Green Bay. But I don’t know if that’s a lock.
I don’t know if Aaron Rodgers wants to play at all. I don’t know if he knows, if he wants to play it all. But I think there’s probably some people in the building who still feel like they’d be better off doing that. So I wouldn’t rule that one out.”
There has already been a report that the Steelers are willing to wait however long it takes for Rodgers to make his decision about next season, and a return to Pittsburgh is the most likely scenario for him if he decides to play.
But he clearly wanted to come to Minnesota to play for his long-time friend Kevin O'Connell last offseason, and it's worth wondering who made the ultimate decision to pass on signing him.
It's easy to think O'Connell didn't want the shadow Rodgers would have cast over McCarthy. But it's possible former general manager Kwesi-Adofo Mensah wanted to avoid that dynamic more than anyone.
The Rodgers-to-Minnesota speculation won't reach the fever pitch it did last offseason. But until a different quarterback move is made, or Rodgers confirms what he's going to do otherwise, the speculation will be out there again.
And with that, a prominent Vikings reporter isn't ready to shut the door on the future Hall of Famer fulfilling the Brett Favre prophecy to finish his career.