Vikings may have made major J.J. McCarthy call after Kyler Murray, Carson Wentz decisions

The Minnesota Vikings surprised some members of the NFL community when they ended roster cutdown day with starter Kyler Murray, veteran Carson Wentz, 2024 first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy and 25-year-old Max Brosmer still in their quarterback room and on their active squad. 

Some previously thought that the Vikings could waive McCarthy if no team traded for his services before Sunday's deadline for teams to trim their rosters to 53 players arrived. For a piece published on Monday, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated suggested that Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell never really considered moving on from McCarthy this summer. 

Vikings' Kevin O’Connell "wants" this regarding the future of J.J. McCarthy

"I have gotten the sense, for what it’s worth, that Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell wants to keep working with J.J. McCarthy," Breer wrote. 

That makes sense, as McCarthy spent his entire rookie campaign recovering from a full meniscus repair and has made just 10 total regular-season starts. While history shows he may not have a long-term future with the Vikings after he lost the competition for the Minnesota starting job ahead of the club's first preseason game, Murray has a concerning injury history. It's also worth noting that the Arizona Cardinals seemingly had multiple reasons to want to move on from Murray after the 2025 season. 

Trading McCarthy now, when his value is at its lowest, would be a bad business decision for the Vikings unless he starts to cause headaches for O'Connell. There's currently no indication McCarthy plans to ask for a trade anytime soon. 

Is Carson Wentz or J.J. McCarthy the Vikings' QB2?

That said, it also sounds like McCarthy won't be the Vikings' primary backup for their regular-season opener against the rival Green Bay Packers on Sept. 13. 

"The Vikings brought back Wentz because they trust him," Alec Lewis of The Athletic shared on Monday. "He understands O’Connell’s complex system. He keeps the floor of the offense at a palatably high level. The expected QB2." 

Lewis added that "the Vikings have always liked Brosmer’s smarts and understanding of the offense." It remains to be seen whether having Brosmer on the roster will result in the Vikings accepting a future draft asset for McCarthy before the in-season trade deadline arrives in November.