Vikings Have 3 Former Top-10 QBs After Letting Super Bowl QB Walk

The story of this quarterback room starts with the man who’s no longer in it. Kirk Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons in March 2024, reportedly influenced, at least in part, by the Vikings being upfront with him: they were going to draft a quarterback high, whether he stayed or not.

Cousins, who had posted a 103.8 passer rating in eight games before tearing his Achilles in 2023, wanted somewhere he could finish out his career as the guy. Minnesota couldn’t promise that. Atlanta could. And so Cousins left, and the Vikings reset the clock.

The No. 10 Pick That Changed Everything

Minnesota moved up one spot by trading with the New York Jets, sending the No. 11 pick, a fourth-round pick (No. 129), and a fifth-round pick (No. 157) to get No. 10 and a sixth-round pick (No. 203), and took Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy. McCarthy had gone 27-1 as a starter in college, won a national championship, and completed 72.3 percent of his passes in his final season. National analysts were split on his pro ceiling. CBS Sports graded the pick a C+, but the Vikings were betting on Kevin O’Connell’s ability to develop a quarterback who showed poise under pressure, completing 72.3 percent of his passes in his final college season. McCarthy was the answer to the Cousins question. He just needed time to prove it.

The Meniscus That Stole a Season

He never got the chance. In his very first preseason game, against the Las Vegas Raiders in August 2024, McCarthy hurt his right knee and initially thought it was just a bruise. It wasn’t. MRI results revealed a torn meniscus requiring full repair surgery, costing him his entire rookie season before he threw a single regular-season pass. The Vikings, without missing a beat, let Sam Darnold — the No. 3 pick of the 2018 draft, signed to a one-year bridge deal that offseason — step in and do something nobody expected. Darnold threw for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns, and just 12 interceptions, carrying the team to a 14-3 record and his first Pro Bowl. The bridge didn’t just hold. It lit up.

Sam Darnold Won the Super Bowl. Just Not for Minnesota

There is no polite way to frame what happened next. The Vikings watched Darnold walk in free agency, handed the keys to McCarthy for the 2025 season, and finished with a 9-8 record while ranking 30th in the league in passing yards per game — 188.7. McCarthy, in his true debut season, went 6-4 as a starter but posted a 72.6 passer rating with 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The offense that went 14-3 the year before finished near the bottom of the league in every meaningful passing category. Meanwhile, Darnold went to Seattle, went 14-3 again with a different franchise, and won the Super Bowl. The heartland audience watching that Lombardi Trophy ceremony knew exactly what it meant for the team back in Minnesota.

Carson Wentz: The Man Who Almost Had Everything

Before the Vikings could figure out what to do with McCarthy, they needed a bridge. Enter Carson Wentz, the No. 2 overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft. In 2017, Wentz was the presumptive league MVP. He threw 33 touchdown passes, a league high and an Eagles franchise record at the time, led the team to an 11-2 mark, and then tore his ACL in December trying to score on a scramble against the Rams. Nick Foles replaced him, won the Super Bowl, and took Super Bowl MVP honors. Wentz stood on that Philadelphia field watching another man accept the trophy that was supposed to be his. “It was definitely bittersweet,” Wentz told reporters years later. He went on to play for five different franchises over the next several seasons before landing in Minnesota in 2025, where he started five games for the Vikings with McCarthy injured, completing 65.1 percent of his passes for 1,216 yards, six touchdowns, and five interceptions before suffering a season-ending shoulder dislocation.

Kyler Murray Arrives as a $1.3 Million Gamble

The Arizona Cardinals drafted Kyler Murray with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft — a Heisman Trophy winner from Oklahoma who also happened to be a first-round MLB Draft pick. Murray had two Pro Bowl selections, a 2-to-1 career touchdown-to-interception ratio, and 3,193 rushing yards on his résumé. He also had an ACL tear, a foot injury, a complicated relationship with Arizona’s front office, and a 2025 season that ended after just five games. When the Cardinals released him in March 2026, the Vikings moved fast. Because he was already owed $36.8 million in guaranteed money by Arizona, Murray was able to sign with Minnesota for the veteran minimum — $1.3 million. It is, on paper, the most favorable contract structure in the entire league for a team taking a flier on a former No. 1 pick. The Vikings got a 28-year-old, two-time Pro Bowler essentially for free.

Three Top-10 Picks, One Quarterback Room

The math is worth stopping on. Kyler Murray — No. 1 overall, 2019. Carson Wentz — No. 2 overall, 2016. J.J. McCarthy — No. 10 overall, 2024. Three quarterbacks, three top-10 picks, one Viking roster. Minnesota also added Max Brosmer, an undrafted free agent from 2025, to round out the room. No other franchise in the league can currently claim three former top-10 picks in the same QB depth chart. That distinction carries a heavy asterisk; two of those three picks have been slowed by injuries, career detours, and declining production. But the raw draft capital represented in that room is genuinely unprecedented for any single team in the modern era.

Kevin O’Connell’s Depth Chart Dilemma

Nobody will say it officially, and O’Connell won’t name a starter. But the hierarchy is real, and it’s uncomfortable. McCarthy was the franchise’s hand-picked top-10 selection, two years invested, still just 23 years old, with a 35.6 QBR in 2025 that ranked 24th among the 26 quarterbacks who started at least 10 games. Murray is the No. 1 overall pick from seven years ago, bringing proof-of-life performances the franchise desperately needs around Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. Wentz is the survivor who bled for this organization last season, played through a shoulder dislocation, and then re-signed when the Chiefs and Jets both came calling. O’Connell inheriting this puzzle is either a coach’s dream — options, leverage, competition — or a locker room nightmare waiting to happen. Maybe both at once.​

What Happens to McCarthy Now

The most consequential question heading into 2026 is whether J.J. McCarthy is really the Vikings’ quarterback of the future or the most expensive consolation prize in Minnesota sports history. He has started 10 NFL games in two years, with a career record of 6-4 and a passer rating that hasn’t come close to justifying a top-10 pick. The roster around him — Jefferson, Addison, a defense that ranked seventh in opponent points per game in 2025 — is genuinely good. But good rosters don’t wait forever. The Vikings signed Murray and re-signed Wentz specifically because they couldn’t trust McCarthy to carry the load alone. If Murray outplays him in camp, the fan base that spent two years hoping the kid from Michigan was the answer will have its worst fears confirmed.​

The Lesson Nobody Wants to Learn

Here is what Minnesota’s quarterback room actually reveals about how NFL roster-building works in 2026: having a top-10 quarterback pick doesn’t solve anything by itself. The Vikings spent No. 10 on McCarthy, watched a bridge quarterback win a championship they let walk out the door, imported the No. 1 pick from 2019 for practically nothing, and re-signed a man who was nearly the Super Bowl MVP back when the Vikings still thought Sam Darnold was a reclamation project. This is what it looks like when a front office refuses to bet everything on one play. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah called it a “competitive rebuild.” That label has survived longer than most people expected — but the 2026 season is where it either pays off or falls apart. Three former top-10 picks share one quarterback room, and only one of them can start on opening day.

Sources
“Vikings Trade with Jets in 2024 NFL Draft’s 1st Round” — Minnesota Vikings Official Site​
“2024 NFL Draft Grades: Vikings Halt J.J. McCarthy’s Fall” — CBS Sports ​
“QB Kirk Cousins Leaving Vikings for 4-Year Deal with Falcons” — ESPN ​
“Sam Darnold Completes Journey from ‘Draft Bust’ to Super Bowl Champ” — Yahoo Sports ​
“Kyler Murray Signs One-Year Deal with Minnesota Vikings” — Sports Illustrated ​
“Vikings Agree to Terms with Quarterback Carson Wentz” — Minnesota Vikings Official Site​