Minnesota Vikings: 3 Biggest Offseason Questions

Even before the Vikings signed Murray, superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson made a point to spend time working out with McCarthy in the offseason. With the inconsistent play from the quarterback position, Jefferson finished last season with 1,048 yards and two touchdowns — both career lows.

"I feel like he's a lot more confident in where I'm going to be, how fast I'm going to get there, what timing to throw the ball before I break," Jefferson said of McCarthy during OTAs. "He's understanding all of that…. It comes with time. It comes with repetition, with seeing it over and over again. So by this time next year, he's going to be a totally different quarterback than he is now."

Still, Jefferson acknowledged that holding onto the starting job will be an uphill battle for McCarthy.

"It's all a competitive mindset when it comes to these types of things," Jefferson said. "It's all about who's ready for that moment and who's ready to step up and take that initiative."

Will Jauan Jennings be the Vikings’ secret weapon?

Minnesota already had an impressive 1-2 punch at wide receiver with Jefferson and Jordan Addison, who had his fifth-year option picked up this spring. But the Vikings also signed former San Francisco 49ers receiver Jauan Jennings in free agency … and O’Connell could not have sounded more excited about it during OTAs.

“He obviously brings size to the room, brings a level of play style and physicality,” O’Connell said of the 6-foot-3, 212-pound Jennings, who had a career-high nine TD receptions last season. “The guy loves playing football. And also, the catch radius and the competes and the production that he's had.”

With Jefferson demanding double coverage, O’Connell expects Jennings to thrive in one-on-one situations, making key third-down grabs and contested catches.  

“Jauan does all those things,” he said. “I think Vikings fans are going to fall in love with watching this guy play football, just passion and the physicality that he plays with. And you can tell I'm excited about it and can't wait to get him here.”

Will the defense get its quarterback back?

The Vikings’ defense will be going through a bit of a facelift, as they must replace pass rusher Jonathan Greenard and defensive tackles Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen, but they do still feature one of the NFL’s best defensive coordinators in Brian Flores. Minnesota ranked third in total defense last season and seventh in scoring defense.

While the team is hoping that first-round pick Caleb Banks can fill the void left on the interior line, the biggest remaining question on defense is whether or not they will have their veteran leadership presence in the secondary.

Pro Bowl safety Harrison Smith still hasn’t decided if he’ll be returning for his 14th NFL season. Smith was released earlier in the offseason for salary cap reasons, but he’s made it clear he is still considering a return.

“The communication's been ongoing and don't really have an update on that,” O’Connell said.

If Smith does retire, it will leave quite a void — he was still playing at a high level in 2025. A possible replacement could be rookie Jakobe Thomas, a third-round pick out of Miami. O’Connell said the team was impressed in the pre-draft process, hearing that Thomas would study tape of Smith.

“Just talking to him about that, pulling up some tape of Harry, especially towards the tail end of last year, some of the things he was doing, quarterbacking the defense, and it got Jakobe really excited,” O’Connell said. “It also allowed us to see another layer to him from a mental side of playing the game that projects really well in our defense.”