Insiders Link Vikings to Veteran QBs Who'd Push McCarthy

ESPN's Peter Schrager is thinking along those same lines.

"It depends on how you look at Kyler Murray and what number. And then I look at guys like Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Jimmy Garoppolo, or Geno Smith," Schrager said Thursday.

"There is a large second tier of what might be free agent available quarterbacks, that we right now might be thinking, 'Well, those aren't going to be real competitions for J.J. McCarthy.' But when you get into training camp, we'll see how they push J.J. They cannot make the same mistake twice. They cannot go into this season just saying, 'Hey, we're good with J.J., we'll let him roll as our No. 1 and not have a No. 2.'"

It's an interesting opinion, but it doesn't make sense when talking about Carr. He's a surefire starter who probably wouldn't cost a lot. The Saints still have his rights, so Minnesota would have to swap late-round draft picks with New Orleans to be able to sign him, but that's nothing in the grand scheme of things.

And I flat-out disagree with Schrager when it comes to Murray and Smith, who are reportedly likely going to be released by the Cardinals and Raiders, respectively. Both of those guys are going to start over McCarthy if they sign with the Vikings. It would be similar to Daniel Jones landing with the Colts last offseason because he was confident he'd win a competition over Anthony Richardson.

That's especially true for Smith, whose 2025 season should be thrown in the trash since he played for a hapless Raiders team, whereas he was excellent in the three previous seasons with the Seahawks, earning two Pro Bowl selections and finishing ninth in MVP voting in 2022.

Smith averaged 4,075 passing yards, 23.6 touchdowns, and 11.6 interceptions from 2022 to 2024, while completing 1,129 of 1,649 passes (68.5%). Not exactly the stuff of a guy who has to prove he's good enough to start next season.

The best-case scenario for the Vikings is a plan where they can sign a veteran quarterback for a reasonably low price and have him start in 2026. And they need to do that without having to commit long-term, and without giving up draft capital, which will be extremely valuable in the event McCarthy isn't ready to be QB1 in 2027.