Purple Rumor Mill: J.J. McCarthy’s Role in 2024, Cousins in ATL, Jordan Addison
VikingsTerritory’s Purple Rumor Mill is a two-day chronicle each week. All the week’s rumors are lassoed and plopped in two spots — articles on Saturday and Sunday — for review. Today is the July 14th edition.
Purple Rumor Mill: J.J. McCarthy’s Role in 2024, Cousins in ATL, Jordan Addison
Remember — rumors are rumors. What you read on weekends in these pieces is what the world is talking about pertaining to the Vikings, not necessarily items that will come to fruition.
Here’s the second batch of the week. Yesterday’s can be read here.
Rumor: J.J. McCarthy may be battling for the QB2 job — not QB1.
For now, veteran journeyman Sam Darnold is on deck to start at QB1, but an unsung storyline in Eagan soon might be McCarthy’s battling for QB2. Right after the draft, most fans envisioned McCarthy vying for QB1 as a rookie.
KFAN’s Paul Allen, the voice of the Vikings, mentioned McCarthy’s stakes this week on his show. “I would make it prohibitively favored in that it would be Sam Darnold starting, Nick Mullens as the backup, and then J.J. McCarthy as the 3rd QB … But this is an opportunity for McCarthy,” Allen said Monday.
Allen added, “Puncher’s chance would be too strong, but long-ish shot fashion to win the two jobs in training camp. And I don’t necessarily know if it’s going to happen, but I would make 3 QBs on the active roster prohibitively favored.”
Minnesota is quite committed to Darnold as QB1, at least to start the season, so this Paul Allen theory shouldn’t be considered weird at all.
Rumor: Kirk Cousins could be a one-and-done in Atlanta.
This week, ESPN’s Dan Graziano analyzed some of the NFL’s hottest talkers, including Dak Prescott’s future in Dallas and the New York Jets already being the team to beat in the AFC East. He also sized up the theory that suggests Cousins could be on his way out of Atlanta and called it “not an overreaction.”
“The short answer is yes, though it wouldn’t be the cleanest move ever,” Graziano wrote about a Cousins-Falcons split after this season.
“Cousins is guaranteed $27.5 million for 2025, and he has a $10 million 2026 roster bonus that becomes fully guaranteed at the start of the 2025 league year this coming March. So any acquiring team would be on the hook for $37.5 million — more than reasonable for a good starting quarterback in 2025. There’s no doubt that if the Falcons made Cousins available next spring, teams would be interested.”
Cousins and his agent were bewildered by the Falcons’ draft choice of quarterback Michael Penix Jr. in April, specifically because they weren’t informed about Atlanta’s plan until it was on the draft clock. In fact, the whole Penix Jr.-to-Atlanta situation totally fell out of the sky and will remain one of the most shocking draft moments in history.
“From the Falcons’ end, cutting Cousins after this season would saddle them with a $65 million dead-money cap charge in 2025 and mean they will have paid him $90 million for one season — so that’s pretty unlikely,” Graziano added about release and trade possibilities. “Trading Cousins would mean a $37.5 million dead-money charge for 2025, and they would have paid him $62.5 million for one season. That’s also not ideal, but if Atlanta really believes in Penix and thinks he’s ready at that point, it’s not prohibitive.”
So let it be known that Cousins’ off-ramp is already on folks’ radar.
Rumor: Jordan Addison will break out even further in 2024, his second season.
NFL Network’s Stacey Dales mentioned Addison this week: “I want to see Jordan Addison because I was told he had an incredible offseason. Could this be the best wide receiver duo in the National Football League? This young man, he had ten receiving touchdowns to lead all rookie receivers last season.”
She added, “He had four different quarterbacks in the process and a stretch in which Justin Jefferson was injured, I think it was seven games. This young man could have a whopping sophomore season in the NFL and we’ll see what happens at quarterback. Sam Darnold has walked into a pretty nice situation.”
The Vikings have no true-blue WR3 at the moment, plus tight end T.J. Hockenson is slated to miss the start of the season. In that vein, Addison should indeed feast in 2024.
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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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