Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah gives huge hint of what's to come for J.J. McCarthy 

Before the Minnesota Vikings wrapped up their 2025 season, Vikings star wide receiver Justin Jefferson insisted that he would "love to have" second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy back as the club's starter this coming September. 

While speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was given a chance to name McCarthy the team's QB1 heading into the start of the new league year. Adofo-Mensah instead went in a different direction. 

Vikings' goals for 2026 go beyond developing J.J. McCarthy 

"I want the Vikings to achieve our goals, and I think one of those goals is to make playoff runs and do different things like that," Adofo-Mensah said in response to a question about McCarthy, per Paul Kasabian of Bleacher Report. "I think he has the character and ability to be the person to do that for our organization. If I say that in 2026, that kind of binds us into a certain area." 

The Vikings made McCarthy the 10th overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, but he later spent his entire rookie season recovering from a full meniscus repair. Injuries then limited him to just 10 starts during the 2025 campaign, and he exited Minnesota's Week 18 game early due to a hand issue. 

According to Pro Football Reference stats, McCarthy ended the season ranked 36th in the NFL among qualified players with a 35.8 adjusted QBR, 40th with a 72.6 passer rating and 39th with a 57.6 percent completion percentage. Only four quarterbacks threw more interceptions from Week 1 through Week 18 than McCarthy tossed (12) over his 10 games. 

J.J. McCarthy on track to be part of "competitive" Vikings QB room

"Our conversation is about returning the room to a competitive, deep-enough standpoint to get that play-style, that ability to win games for 17-plus games in a season," Adofo-Mensah added about Minnesota's quarterback situation. 

He also said the Vikings will first focus on "the people that we have in the building" before the club looks to make its quarterback room more "competitive" via offseason moves. Adofo-Mensah may not be done with McCarthy after a pair of disappointing seasons, but it sounds like the 22-year-old will be part of an open competition for the Minnesota starting job this summer.