After the misstep of not having an ideal fallback plan behind J.J. McCarthy last season, the Minnesota Vikings moved sharply toward outright replacing him when they signed Kyler Murray.
Still, at least partially in an effort not to "lose" the young quarterback, the idea of a legit, equal competition for the starting job has been professed.
That said, assessments of the situation from Vikings' beat writers have maintained the obvious truth. Murray was not brought in to truly compete with McCarthy or be the backup if he doesn't win the starting job. He was signed to be the starter, and any other outcome that isn't forced by an injury would be surprising.
Then came McCarthy's comments last week at OTAs when both quarterbacks talked to reporters. While Murray had the diplomatic, expected tone, McCarthy could not hide his feelings. As questions about his approach and maturity linger, those words only fueled that fire of criticism.
Beyond that, McCarthy may have given the Vikings' coaches a glimpse of how he will handle not being the starter.
NFL insider's new insight about Minnesota Vikings QB competition shows endgame may already be here
NFL Network's Tom Pelissero has notably professed the idea that the Vikings will have a legitimate quarterback competition, with nothing determined until it has to be.
But he has also acknowledged how it might not be the friendliest quarterback room. McCarthy's assessment of the situation, if nothing else, confirmed that.
Pelissero appeared on KFAN Radio's "Power Trip Morning Show" on Thursday. The Vikings' quarterback situation was an obvious topic, and he made a not-so-surprising assessment when asked about it.
“I would anticipate, you know, as soon as this week, I know the reporters will be out there at practice today, you may see the reps maybe evolve a little bit.
I don't believe that Kevin needs to take this all the way through the third preseason game to determine his starting quarterback. You're going to probably have a pretty good idea by the end of spring what direction this is going to go.”
After going through what the coaching staff has seen and needs to see from McCarthy and Murray, Pelissero went back to his original thought before adding a tentacle.
“Again, I would imagine you're going to start to see the reps perhaps change a little bit here over these next couple of weeks as they hone in on what their plan is going to be going to training camp.
And I'm not [reporting] this, I don't know what direction they're going to go as you get closer to the season.
But let's say Kyler wins the job, which if you had to lean one way or another sitting right here, I would say I would lean toward Kyler as the starting quarterback. [If that happens], do you have J.J. as the backup?
Do you potentially look to trade him while there's still some intrigue within the league?
And you might be able to get more for him with two years left on his rookie contract than with one year left. Those are all things that I would think you're going to talk through.”
If there are questions about how McCarthy would handle being the backup to Murray, and they would be legit until shown otherwise, trading him could become a serious consideration.
The potential of selling low may not even be a thing if it means removing someone who might not do their part to foster a harmonious quarterback room.
The facade the Vikings have tried to maintain about a real quarterback competition has been flimsy all along. That facade may already be coming down, thankfully, as no one can hide what the inevitable outcome is anymore.
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