Will the Vikings do Something Highly Unusual at Quarterback?
Lately, a lot of the attention has been on the quarterback situation in Minnesota. Will the Vikings do something highly unusual by keeping all four of their passers?
At first glance, a 53-man roster would appear to have plenty of room, especially since the game day roster doesn’t even include all of those players. Every week, guys who are on the team don’t even dress, so there’s a sense that teams have some extra players already built into the roster structure. Even still, keeping four QBs isn’t going to happen, is it?
Will the Vikings Keep Four QBs?
Last year, the Vikings needed four quarterbacks. Note the wording: needed.
Of course, what transpired was unusual. Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles and Nick Mullens had a back injury that lasted several weeks. Jaren Hall had a concussion. Joshua Dobbs was added via trade within all of that turmoil. And then the final three names on that list — Mullens, Hall, and Dobbs — all took turns getting benched for poor performance.
Fast forward into 2024 and things look a lot different. Cousins and Dobbs are gone. Mullens and Hall have stuck around to (presumably) battle for just one roster spot.
Sam Darnold was the veteran add in free agency who commanded $10 million over his single season. He isn’t going anywhere. Even more secure is J.J. McCarthy, the 21-year-old national champion who is competing to start in Week 1. He, too, will be on the final roster.
The reigning theory has thus been that Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall are in a heated battle for the QB3 spot. Right now, Mullens is the better player, but Hall was a draft pick in 2023, is younger, and is cheaper. Even better is that he’s under team control for three more seasons, potentially giving Minnesota the option to partner the former BYU passer with the former Wolverine for several years.
Mullens could get traded to the highest bidder, bringing back a coveted draft pick for a team that doesn’t have too many in 2025. The added bonus is the extra cap space.
The only issue with that thinking is that Mullens has been getting a decent bit of praise recently.
Consider what Coach O’Connell had to say of his veteran: “I wouldn’t discount Nick Mullens’ experience in our system over these last couple years, to maybe where he doesn’t quite necessarily need the volume of work to still be ready to go, if called upon during the season.”
Doesn’t sound like someone on the verge of being cut/traded, does it?
Minnesota thinks that Mullens offers great insurance. In 2023, Mullens had no issues with moving the ball. He completed 67.6% of his passes for 1,306 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions. The turnovers are a major issue, but at least he can keep the offense moving and scoring.
Does that mean Hall is on the outs? Maybe, and yet it would be odd to move on so soon. Neither of Darnold nor Mullens are under contract for next year. One (or both) could always be extended, but it would be odd to roll through 2024 with just McCarthy under contract for 2025.
Oh, and that QB turmoil we mentioned not too long ago — needing four quarterbacks — isn’t forgotten. Kevin O’Connell understands better than anyone how difficult that was for his team.
“We played four of ’em last year,” O’Connell explained back in June, “including one guy who was not in our building throughout the offseason or training camp. And relied on him to come in and win a game and then try to play it out from there. So I have total understanding of we only control so much in this whole thing.”
Right now, Minnesota has a loaded depth chart. Keeping four quarterback would seem to be a non-starter since it would be devoting a spot to a player who is very unlikely to contribute. Nevertheless, last year’s experience hasn’t been forgotten and there are reasons to keep both of Mullens and Hall.
Keep an eye on this one, folks. The likeliest outcome remains some collection of three QBs — Darnold, McCarthy, and Mullens/Hall — but Minnesota isn’t afraid of doing unorthodox, unique things.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.
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