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Aug 9, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Max Brosmer (12) passes against the Houston Texans in the fourth quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

Insiders have mixed views on Vikings' backup QB situation

Originally posted on Minnesota Vikings on SI
By Jonathan Harrison | Last updated Aug 21, 2025 1:56 PM ET

A lot of time was spent this offseason wondering if the Vikings were actually going to go forward with J.J. McCarthy as their No. 1 quarterback in 2025. Coming off a 14-win season, the viability of handing the reins to a 22-year-old who hasn't thrown a pass in the NFL was a fair question. Now that Minnesota is moving forward with McCarthy, the focus has shifted to who is backing up the former first rounder, and opinion appears to be split on who that should be several weeks into Vikings training camp.

The presumptive favorite as the team entered camp at the end of July was Sam Howell. The 24-year-old is entering his fourth season in the league and has a full season of previous starting experience with the Commanders. However, after a shaky performance in camp and the team's second preseason game, there's a chance Howell has been knocked off of his perch, with his spot on the roster as a whole now in question.

"I've got three quarterbacks on this roster. Right now, the projection would have it as J.J. McCarthy, Brett Rypien, and Max Brosmer," said Alec Lewis of The Athletic on a recent episode of his podcast.

Rypien's inclusion makes sense, since he's been with the team since 2024 and has the "most advanced knowledge" of the Vikings' system. However, it's Brosmer's addition to the QB room that has caught many by surprise.

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Brosmer signed with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent after one season with the Gophers. The transfer from FCS New Hampshire threw for 2,828 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions for the University of Minnesota last season, helping the Gophers to their best passing season since 2019.

The thing that has stuck out to many observers — and the Vikings' coaching staff — is Brosmer's mental ability at the position. Lewis called the mental side of his game Brosmer's "secret sauce" and something that puts him over a guy like Howell, who has struggled with that aspect during his NFL career.

"He has an ability to decipher the picture in split-second form in a way that I just don't know how many backups across the league (can)," Lewis said of Brosmer.

I mean... pic.twitter.com/DEdHR8HgyT
— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) August 17, 2025

But is a quarterback room that features McCarthy and Brosmer, two guys who have never thrown an NFL pass, a good idea? Lewis called naming those two guys QB1 and QB2, respectively, a "bold bet to make."

"I think that's hard to imagine happening, as good as he's looked. Because then you'd have two quarterbacks who have not thrown a pass in an NFL game," said the Minnesota Star Tribune's Ben Goessling on a recent appearance on the Paul Allen Show. "I think they'd want somebody with more experience, which is why I've tended to think Sam Howell keeps that job, because he has started in the NFL before."

However, if you don't find a way to get Brosmer onto the squad, other teams are more than likely going to pounce at the option to add a QB who Kevin O'Connell has spoken highly of over the last month.

"He's been decisive enough and Kevin O'Connell has had enough good things to say about him publicly, that I'm sure — given what Kevin O'Connell has done with quarterbacks — if Kevin O'Connell is saying, 'Hey I think this guy can play,' there are teams that are taking notice of that," continued Goessling.

"He's looked good. They like him. I think they want him to be in the building," Lewis said of Brosmer. "It's just, how do you do that in a way that keeps him yours and doesn't possibly expose him to somebody else poaching him?"

The safe route for the Vikings would be to keep both Howell and Brosmer on the roster, with Rypien being waived and perhaps signed to the practice squad. That would require keeping three quarterbacks on the 53, whereas most teams typically only keep two.

Brosmer, despite his lack of NFL experience, has made a heck of an argument to be on the roster, if not the No. 2 quarterback. But is O'Connell that comfortable in his ability as a QB whisperer to forge ahead into the 2025 season with two young quarterbacks that have not thrown a pass in the NFL? It's a very interesting question facing O'Connell and the Vikings coaching staff as they prepare to whittle down their roster ahead of the season.