Vikings' Kevin O'Connell addresses Aaron Rodgers conversations amid recovery of J.J. McCarthy

It's now no secret that the Minnesota Vikings had conversations with quarterback Aaron Rodgers after Sam Darnold left the club via free agency and as 2024 first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy continued to recover from the full meniscus repair that cost him his rookie season. 

While speaking with reporters at the NFL owners meetings on Monday, Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell offered his first public comments regarding the club's discussions with Rodgers. 

"...Rodgers is a four-time NFL MVP and somebody who, not just myself, but we've all had so much respect for competing against him," O'Connell said, as shared by Kevin Seifert of ESPN. "And he happened to be at a point in time in his career where he was free to have some real dialogue about what his future may look like. And we happened to be one of those teams that he reached out to. And I have had a personal relationship with him going back since my playing days."

In a piece first published on March 21, Vikings insider Alec Lewis of The Athletic mentioned that "O’Connell and Rodgers have known each other for over a decade" and "have stayed connected over the years." Lewis added that "many within the (Vikings') building supported the idea of adding Rodgers, thinking he could still operate at a high level, especially in the pocket." 

Since that time, McCarthy has revealed he hasn't been promised the 2025 Week 1 starting job. Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah later suggested the team could reach out to Rodgers depending on how McCarthy looks during springtime workouts. 

"I feel really, really positive about the path we're going to take with J.J. from a development standpoint, from an acceleration of reps," O'Connell said about Minnesota making McCarthy earn the QB1 gig. "And he's going to benefit from an offseason worth of reps from the offseason program to obviously training camp and being in a competitive situation when our quarterback room is all finalized."

Nothing O'Connell said on Monday will make people within the Pittsburgh Steelers feel any better about their chances of convincing Rodgers to pick them as soon as possible instead of waiting to hear back from the Vikings. The only thing for sure about the Vikings' quarterback situation at the end of March is that they seemingly won't be ready to name McCarthy their starter anytime soon.