The Minnesota Vikings are entering training camp with big questions at the quarterback position. But while many are obsessing over the battle that will take place between J.J. McCarthy and Kyler Murray for the starting job, Max Brosmer’s future is another one that could be decided.
An undrafted free agent out of the University of Minnesota, Brosmer was the star of last year’s training camp, earning a roster spot at the 11th hour.
But despite a pair of underwhelming performances when thrust into action, The Athletic's Alec Lewis recently revealed the Vikings haven’t changed their opinion as Brosmer enters his second season ac
“Optimism for Brosmer persists. The Vikings wished he didn’t have to play during his rookie season, but circumstances thrust him into the spotlight. Release him, and opposing teams will have interest.”
Lewis’s intel creates an interesting dynamic. While the Vikings would like to keep Brosmer, it’s unlikely they’ll keep four quarterbacks on the roster with Murray, McCarthy, and Carson Wentz also on the team.
While they could have Brosmer on the practice squad, he’d have to clear waivers, allowing the “multiple teams” to get a shot at acquiring him.
Basic math means that someone has to go, and with Wentz likely to be on the roster, it could lead to a last-minute trade of whoever loses the quarterback battle between McCarthy and Murray.
But it also shouldn’t be a scenario that should happen, as Brosmer has no business deciding the Vikings' quarterback room.
Minnesota Vikings must decide if Max Brosmer is worth reshaping their QB room
The Vikings clearly see a lot they like in Brosmer. At 6-foot-2 and 218 pounds, he has the size and big arm similar to Sam Darnold, who thrived in Kevin O’Connell’s system in 2024. His ability to process also led O’Connell to call Brosmer “as smart as any young player I’ve been around” during last year’s training camp.
You could make the argument that Brosmer was put in a position to fail during his rookie season. His first career start came on the road against a Seattle Seahawks defense that intercepted him four times and wound up winning a Super Bowl a few months later.
His second career start came against an aggressive Detroit Lions defense that held him to 51 yards passing and sacked him seven times.
In a perfect world, Brosmer never would have seen the field, continuing his development in a risk-free environment. It is also likely the Vikings would love to “redshirt” Brosmer this year with Murray, McCarthy, and Wentz ahead of him. But looking at recent history, the Vikings can only protect Brosmer so much.
Over O’Connell’s four seasons as head coach, the Vikings have been down to their third-string quarterback twice in 2023 and 2025.
McCarthy and Murray aren’t exactly the picture of health either, and it may be a solid bet that either one or both quarterbacks spend time on the shelf in 2026.
While O’Connell has gushed over Wentz’s ability to be ready on short notice, he didn’t set the world on fire last season, completing 65.1 percent of his passes for 1,216 yards, six touchdowns and five interceptions in five starts before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury.
In the current landscape of a 17-game season, it’s likely the Vikings will need multiple quarterbacks to get the job done. Which is why trading either McCarthy or Murray in an effort to keep Brosmer would be a bizarre move.
Maybe there is some kind of development that can take place for Brosmer during camp. But it’s fair to wonder what his ceiling is as someone who turned 25 in March.
This conversation would also be different if Brosmer, who was working with the same infrastructure that was supposed to elevate McCarthy’s play last year, showed anything other than a meme-worthy interception and getting piledriven into the turf on Christmas Day.
In any event, the Vikings may be trying to groom the next Sean Mannion – a player who many fans wondered what he was doing on the roster during his time in Minnesota before embarking on a rising coaching career that now has him as the offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles.
If that’s the case, the Vikings have to decide what’s more important. Squeezing everything they can out of an undrafted quarterback so O’Connell can have his first branch on a coaching tree? Or establishing depth that could come in handy as the Vikings embark on their annual journey to 10 wins and “a shot in the tournament?”
Unless Brosmer wakes up and becomes Darnold overnight, it’s unlikely he’d rise from this quarterback battle and be the surprising starter in 2027. It may even be unlikely he’s the backup next season based on what he showed last season.
But that’s not enough to make a knee-jerk trade of a former No. 1 overall pick or the highest-drafted quarterback in franchise history unless O’Connell and his staff see things differently.
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