Minnesota Vikings hosted QB Carson Wentz on Saturday. Here's what that means

The timing of Wentz's visit is a fascinating one for the Vikings. They just got back from playing the Titans and Wentz was essentially waiting for them to return. There are a lot of interesting elements to his visit, and it raises a lot of questions.

Carson Wentz's Vikings visit means multiple things

When you look at the Vikings' roster, one of the biggest issues is at the quarterback position. J.J. McCarthy is going to be the starting quarterback, but who will be backing him up has been a tough one to figure out.

Initially, the Vikings wanted it to be Daniel Jones, but he is currently the starter for the Indianapolis Colts. They ended up settling on Sam Howell when the acquired him on day three of the NFL Draft by moving down 30 spots. Despite the idea being a good one, it hasn't worked out the way they would have liked it to.

Over the course of training camp and the preseason, Howell has been very up and down. Practices have been rough, as was his second preseason game. However, Howell was dominant against the Houston Texans. Is that kind of inconsistency with Howell and Brett Rypien something that the Vikings are comfortable with? Bringing Wentz in is a major signal that they aren't.

The best performing quarterback in the preseason was Max Brosmer, but he was a UDFA in this last NFL Draft. It's not unprecedented to have a UDFA as the backup quarterback, as Tyson Bagent was for the Chicago Bears in 2023.

Wentz visiting could be that the Vikings want to bring him in right away to be the backup quarterback with Brosmer as the third quarterback. The likely move is going to be keeping Brosmer as QB2 and trying to sneak Howell and Rypien on the practice squad, but having Wentz in their back pocket if they can't make it happen. Having a backup plan for their backup quarterback spot is going to be important, and they are looking at every option available to them.