The Minnesota Vikings are in a weird place when it comes to the quarterback position. After Sam Darnold left for the Seattle Seahawks in free agency, the team rallied behind J.J. McCarthy for the 2025 season, and the results were disappointing at best.
Entering the 2026 NFL season, the Vikings are said to be having an open competition between McCarthy and Kyler Murray. Murray was released by the Arizona Cardinals earlier this offseason and signed with Minnesota to potentially be the team's starter.
If McCarthy isn't ready to take the lead after the 2026 season, where does that leave the purple and gold? How do they move forward at the quarterback position while trying not to use a lot of resources every offseason?
Will the Minnesota Vikings be on the hunt for another quarterback after the 2026 NFL season?
Minnesota could be a team looking through the talent of the 2027 NFL Draft to select another quarterback. Talented prospects like Arch Manning of Texas, Oregon's Dante Moore, and Ohio State passer Julian Sayin headline the class of upcoming passers.
Recently, ESPN's Jordan Reid shared an article talking about the top quarterback prospects in the 2027 NFL Draft. He also identified the team most likely to need a signal caller in that draft, as well as one "sleeper" team to pick a quarterback.
That sleeper team is the Vikings. Here is what Reid had to say about their quarterback situation:
"If Murray and McCarthy don't drastically improve from what they put on tape last season, Minnesota could be looking for its next franchise signal-caller as soon as the 2027 draft."
Of course, the purple and gold will hope that McCarthy will be their long-term answer, but they can't force him into the role. There is also a chance that Murray will unlock his potential with head coach Kevin O'Connell's help, not to mention having a solid group of offensive weapons around him.
An NFL team won't get very far in the league if they have below average quarterback play. Even with a strong defense last season, Minnesota barely squeaked out a winning record but missed the playoffs during an extremely frustrating campaign.
At the moment, Carson Wentz is more of an insurance policy for McCarthy and Murray, while Max Brosmer is more likely to be on the practice squad than the 53-man roster this season. That puts a lot of pressure on the top two quarterbacks on the depth chart to perform well.
Time will tell if either Murray or McCarthy steps up to take control of the starting quarterback job for Minnesota. However, if they fail to impress, it isn't impossible that the front office decides to wipe the slate clean and start over for 2027.
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