It's no secret that the Minnesota Vikings will add a quarterback this offseason, with a long list of potential options across the spectrum in terms of what it will say about the internal view of J.J. McCarthy. In theory, a healthy competition will bring out the best in the 10th overall pick two years ago.
What seems clear, with 10 starts on his resume and some of this year's incoming quarterback prospects being younger than him, is that the Vikings are not yet giving up on McCarthy's development. This is a huge offseason for him, and what happens during the 2026 season will have a big say in his future. But a failed plan to fill out the depth chart behind him last offseason is not his fault. Few teams would have let that happen to them behind a quarterback who had zero regular-season starts on his resume, and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was made the scapegoat for it.
An NFL insider takes the J.J. McCarthy situation with the Minnesota Vikings to a new level
The NFL Combine is speculation and rumor central to start the NFL offseason, with the event amounting to a league convention of coaches, team personnel executives, agents, and media. At no other time on the calendar is everyone in the same place at the same time to such an extent.
In his notes column from Saturday of Combine week, Tony Pauline of Essentially Sports had some pointed insight about McCarthy's situation with the Vikings.
"The Minnesota Vikings are quietly exploring an exit strategy for 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy, according to multiple league sources...The consensus opinion here at the Combine is that the Vikings are in the market for a new starting quarterback. In fact, a source tells me the team is really down on quarterback J.J. McCarthy and is ready to move on from their 2024 first-round pick. The team will bring in another signal caller to compete and eventually replace McCarthy, who was the 10th selection of the 2024 NFL Draft."
Bringing in someone to compete with, or even possibly eventually replace, McCarthy is as automatic as it gets for the Vikings this offseason. But Pauline reporting they're exploring an exit strategy, and are ready to move on, carries a tone of immediacy to give up on McCarthy that has not existed before. Like, he might not be on the roster when the dust settles on adding a new quarterback.
McCarthy is clearly on the hot seat. But even the faint idea he may have already taken his last snap as a Viking is unchartered territory.