NFL Insider Says One Era of Vikings Football Is Over
Remember not long ago when a substantial faction of Minnesota Vikings fans wanted to end the Kirk Cousins era at quarterback and start fresh with a rookie quarterback?
NFL Insider Says One Era of Vikings Football Is Over
That happened.
Many Vikings enthusiasts recommended the team to “find its Patrick Mahomes” — as if that were an easy task — and start the clock on a rookie quarterback’s contract. By the 2025 offseason, they got their wish.
And according to SI.com‘s Albert Breer, the Vikings’ rebuild is over, embarking on a new era of Super Bowl contendership.
Rebuild Is Over, Says Albert Breer
It’s here, says Breer. Assuming J.J. McCarthy is at least decent, the time is now for Minnesota to compete for Super Bowls.
“Over the past couple of years, the Vikings slowly shed the cap debt left by the previous regime, which had built aggressively and won a bunch. They progressively got younger. They kept chipping away in flipping positions over, and now have a core of players (Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, Christian Darrisaw, Jonathan Greenard, Dallas Turner) in the primes of their careers coming off a 14-win season,” Breer wrote this week.
“What the willingness to spend at quarterback tells me is that they’re moving to a new phase of the build, where they can legitimately chase a championship.”
The 2025 NFL Draft is two weeks away, and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah will continue to construct his depth chart with a Super Bowl on his mind.
Breer continued, “And to do that, I think — and this is just my opinion — the brass felt like it had to give that core that won 14 games a year ago every possible chance to be the best it can be at the most important position on the field. McCarthy might be able to do that, but it was a little hard to project based on the four months of developmental time he lost, and the weight he lost over that time, to bet everything on him.”
“Now, that’s the spot they’re in, and I know they’re encouraged by where he is now, versus where he was six months ago. They’ll have the spring to take a really hard look at that progress and, since they didn’t add competition, McCarthy will be able to gobble up all the reps and show he’s ready to handle that.”
The Rebuild from 2022 to 2024
Adofo-Mensah and his head coach, Kevin O’Connell, took over slightly over three years ago and immediately began jettisoning contracts of aging, expensive veterans. Players like Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, and Eric Kendricks ventured elsewhere as Adofo-Mensah laid the foundation for his “competitive rebuild.”
A formal end date never really flashed in bright lights on a billboard, but McCarthy’s addition to the team, in hindsight, was the last step.
McCarthy later tore his meniscus before he even played a regular season game as a rookie, but because the roster was in sweet shape, journeyman passer Sam Darnold led the Vikings to 14 wins in 2024.
The rebuild had paid dividends.
2025 Free Agent Moves
Thereafter, as a cake-topper, the Vikings used this offseason to build and expand the offensive and defensive trenches, signing Will Fries, Ryan Kelly, Jonathan Allen, and Javon Hargrave in free agency over a wild 48 hours.
Because Adofo-Mensah had trimmed the fat from the roster and eliminated major dead cap penalties, he could spend freely outside the restraints of his rebuild.
So he did that in 2025 free agency.
Super Bowl Contention for 4 Years
McCarthy cannot score a second contract, at least based on when the big money would hit the books, until a few years from now. The Vikings have four seasons to get this right. The number would’ve been five, but he tore his meniscus in the preseason last summer.
Like the popular blueprint endorses, Adofo-Mensah can build a team around McCarthy through the end of the 2028 season. After that, McCarthy, if he’s a Top 12 passer or so, will probably earn around $70 million annually.
This Is What Folks Asked For
Perhaps it took longer than expected because Adofo-Mensah didn’t rip down the depth chart in a week, but this is what Vikings fans craved.
Kirk Cousins performed admirably at quarterback most of the time, but he alone could not drag the team to the Promised Land or anywhere close to it. He chased money in Atlanta last offseason, and Minnesota drafted McCarthy.
The era of Vikings’ Super Bowl contendership is here. Breer agrees.
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