The Minnesota Vikings need to rip the band-aid off and give up on J.J. McCarthy.
It’s uncomfortable, especially because the team invested the No. 10 overall pick into McCarthy during the 2024 NFL Draft. But since then, the Vikings fired general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and brought in free agent quarterback Kyler Murray in free agency.
The Vikings are signaling to McCarthy that they’re giving up on him, but now it’s time to formalize that by trading the 23-year-old quarterback.
After OTAs on Wednesday, Murray praised McCarthy to reporters, explaining that he wants to be a veteran leader for the team.
“I know he’s a younger guy, so any way I can help him… give him any knowledge that he needs,” Murray said. “We’re both competitors and want what’s best for the team.”
Murray said that McCarthy has been very receptive to advice, but the former Michigan quarterback didn’t exactly view the relationship that same way.
“It’s just like two guys in a classroom, he sits on one side, I sit on the other side, and it’s the coach’s responsibility to teach us and coach us,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy was asked if there’s any awkwardness with Murray. And he didn’t exactly shut it down.
“Awkwardness? You know, it’s just like the same feeling when you’re in high school and there’s another person on the other side of the room, I wouldn’t say there’s any awkwardness.”
McCarthy referencing that it’s up to Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell to “teach us and coach us” almost makes it seem like he’s not very receptive to the advice that Murray is trying to give him.
Quarterback competitions never work
The Vikings need to nip this in the butt now before it becomes a bigger issue.
When was the last time a quarterback competition worked? When Russell Wilson beat out Matt Flynn with the Seattle Seahawks? That was almost two decades ago. Quarterback competitions rarely bear fruit. Instead, they take valuable preseason reps away from the team’s starter.
McCarthy told reporters that Minnesota’s brass told him this is an honest competition. But let’s be real about that for a second. There’s no world they convinced Murray to sign with the Vikings without some sort of guarantee that he’d be the starting quarterback.
Murray could’ve gone to the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers or the New York Jets – all three teams that needed a starting quarterback. But he picked the Vikings, probably because they give him the best chance to start and succeed, similar to how Sam Darnold performed under McCarthy before securing a three-year, $100 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks.
That’s why the Vikings need to just admit that this experiment with McCarthy is over. It was screwed up from the moment he injured himself, allowing Darnold to flourish. McCarthy wildly underperformed last year, throwing 12 interceptions compared to 11 touchdown passes.
It’s clear the organization is iffy about him. Now, he sounds iffy about the organization.
Cut bait. Somebody might be willing to give up a Day 2 draft pick to try and save McCarthy’s career. It’s not happening in Minnesota and it’s already time to turn the page.
