Vikings Have a Strange Roster Oddity
In very recent Minnesota Vikings history, the club would employ two quarterbacks on the active roster, with one on the practice squad.
It doesn’t happen often, but the Minnesota Vikings currently have a strange roster circumstance — one that could last a few weeks.
Throw that tendency out the window; everything has changed, at least temporarily, for the purple team.
How? Well, Kevin O’Connell currently showcases four quarterbacks on his active roster, an oddity in the Twin Cities.
Four Is the Magic Number at QB for the Vikings
It’s McCarthy, Wentz, Brosmer, and Ridder for the next few weeks.
Vikings Have 4 QBs on Active Roster | J.J. McCarthy at QB1
At maximum, Minnesota generally employs three quarterbacks on its active roster. Four are overkill by traditional standards.
But J.J. McCarthy sprained his ankle in Week 2 and will allegedly be out for two to three games. The team did not place McCarthy on injured reserve — that’s a good sign and a good thing — but he won’t play in Week 3, and Week 4 is up in the air.
So, rather than festering on IR, McCarthy will stay on the gameday roster as an injured player.
Carson Wentz at QB2
Minnesota signed Wentz a few weeks ago when it ended the short-lived experiment with Sam Howell, who now serves as Jalen Hurts‘ primary backup in Philadelphia. Howell played poorly in the preseason, and O’Connell believed Wentz could serve more reliably as a backup.
And here we are.
Wentz is technically the QB2 on the depth chart behind McCarthy, but this weekend, he’ll proudly wear the QB1 badge on his chest. Not for nothing, Wentz grew up as a fan of the Vikings, so his Week 3 stakes are elevated and provide a full-circle moment for the once-promising 32-year-old signal-caller.
Max Brosmer at QB3
And then there’s the hometown guy, relatively speaking.
Brosmer was not born and raised in Minnesota, but he attended the University of Minnesota and set the summer on fire with his sweet play during the preseason. The rookie is one Wentz injury away from playing in the regular season, or probably about 2.5 quarters if Wentz utterly flounders this weekend at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Some fans have even insinuated that Brosmer can be the Vikings’ version of Brock Purdy — a totally unsung passer who emerges out of the woodwork to hold down a longterm QB1 job.
There’s a long way for that plan to take off, but Brosmer is not far away from regular season action. Not far at all.
Desmond Ridder at QB4
To play it safe in the wake of McCarthy’s ankle sprain, Minnesota pilfered Ridder from the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad this week, the team it conveniently will play on Sunday.
Ridder is on the active roster, too, because when a team steals a player from another’s practice squad, he must be plopped on the 53-man depth chart.
Fans shouldn’t expect to see Ridder — at all, really — unless the 2025 campaign bends off the rails even further.
NFL.com on Wentz
NFL.com‘s Nick Shook weighed in on Wentz’s upcoming start: “Carson Wentz’s NFL journey has included plenty of twists and turns. On Sunday, it will send him toward a once unlikely outcome: He’ll start a game for the team he grew up supporting.”
“An injury to youngster J.J. McCarthy has forced Wentz into action for the Vikings in a game that pits two backups — Cincinnati is starting understudy Jake Browning following Joe Burrow’s significant toe injury — against each other. After making starts for five different teams over the last five seasons, it’s an opportunity Wentz isn’t taking lightly.”
Minnesota’s rich history of the backup quarterback succeeding against all odds will be tested this weekend.
Shook added, “This start is clearly more meaningful for Wentz than most because of his personal connection to the Vikings, but it’s also vital to his viability as a backup in the NFL in future seasons. The former NFL MVP contender (way back in 2017) has bounced around plenty in the last few years and only signed with the Vikings at the end of the preseason, yet he finds himself in a familiar place as a backup called into action.”
“Much like those previous opportunities, Wentz can prove his worth to personnel executives both in Minnesota and beyond. For now, though, the sole focus is getting back on the winning track after falling to Atlanta on Sunday night. His new teammates are exuding plenty of optimism entering Wentz’s first start.”
Four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster is excessive, but it’s apparently what the doctor ordered for the moment.
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