You Shouldn’t Care about the Vikings QB2. Fuhgeddaboudit.
Three Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks left via free agency last week.
You Shouldn’t Care about the Vikings QB2. Fuhgeddaboudit.
Sam Darnold became a Seattle Seahawk and will lead that franchise as QB1 for at least one year. Nick Mullens vamoosed to Jacksonville, on tap to support QB1 Trevor Lawrence for the Jaguars. And Daniel Jones will fight for a starter’s job against Anthony Richardson in August.
That left the Vikings with nothing at QB2 — other than Brett Rypien. And here’s why you shouldn’t care about the QB2’s identity. Let it go.
Let Kevin O’Connell Decide and Then Be Happy
Kevin O’Connell has earned a reputation in the last three seasons as a “quarterback whisperer.” It’s such an established slogan that national media uses it.
So, here’s the deal — VikingsTerritory articles and fans at home don’t know the best QB2 option for the purple team. The quarterback whisperer does. That’s why he’s in Minnesota — to decide the QB2 and continue his whisperer eminence along the way.
Tweeting about Joe Flacco, Ryan Tannehill, Drew Lock, or Jameis Winston accomplishes nothing. Perhaps if Mike Zimmer still led the Vikings — he was the opposite of a quarterback whisperer — spitballing QB2 alternatives would be worthwhile.
But not now. This one is simple. O’Connell knows best. He will nominate a QB2, and that human will be the best option for the task. You don’t earn the whisperer reputation by being a moron or forgetting to sign a QB2 behind the rookie quarterback with a busted meniscus.
Season Is Cooked with a QB2 Anyway
Minnesota lost J.J. McCarthy for all of the 2024 campaign after a few promising preseason drives. Sam Darnold stepped in, promptly firing off 14 wins to just three losses.
The problem? His QB1 magic ran out — flatly died — when it mattered the most. Darnold no longer works for the Vikings accordingly. They don’t want a $33 million-per-year quarterback who vaporizes in the clutch.
The cold, hard truth? If Minnesota has to depend on a QB2 again — for a third consecutive season — the season is dead anyway. Optimists will invoke the Nick Foles + Philadelphia Eagles argument from 2017, but do you really think that will happen to the Vikings, a franchise habitually and notoriously snakebitten by everything?
No. If the QB2 retakes the reins of QB1, the season will be toast. Therefore, the QB2 doesn’t matter if the goal is to reach The Promised Land.
The QB2 Options
Thanks to Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling, the masses might have some clarity on Minnesota’s QB2 aspirations this week. He tweeted Wednesday, “Said it with KFAN’s Paul Allen yesterday, but here’s where I’d keep my eye for Vikings backup QB options: a veteran with a clear role like Flacco or Tannehill, or a trade. The comp pick formula matters here. They’re also excited about where J.J. McCarthy is at.”
So …. Flacco, Tannehill, or a trade.
Minnesota is unlikely to sign Jameis Winston or Drew Lock. Doing so could muck up the precious compensatory draft pick formula for 2026, which is apparently a high priority.
Pick your fighter: Flacco, Tannehill, a trade for a man like Aidan O’Connell, or a free agent to be signed in the summer when the compensatory picks will be untouched.
Time to Get Rid of Old Thinking
Vikings fans have QB2 importance lodged deep in their bones. They’re accustomed to Case Keenum leading the club to almost-glory. Darnold went for the rollercoaster last year. Randall Cunningham replaced Brad Johnson in 1998 and shined. Jeff George took over for Cunningham a year later and displayed a cannon arm en route to the postseason.
None of this mattered. Minnesota didn’t win a Super Bowl. Brainstorming about QB2s is what Super Bowl-less franchises do. Kansas City Chiefs fans know they’re done if Patrick Mahomes tears his ACL. Buffalo Bills fans know it, too, regarding Josh Allen.
Purple faithful are just a special breed that is so engrained to fall in love with a backup quarterback because that dude somehow ends up playing. It never amounts to Lombardi trophies, though, so it really doesn’t matter. Unless one loves the actual process of a backup quarterback achieving against all odds, there’s no championship benefit per Vikings history. The QB2 always collapses in the end.
That’s why onlookers should pour their heart and soul into McCarthy rather than worrying about 40-year-old Joe Flacco’s spring plans.
Maybe It’s Just … Brett Rypien
Brett Rypien has started a handful of games in the NFL and came to Minnesota from the Sean McVay school of quarterback rearing.
It’s not a voguish stance at the moment, but maybe O’Connell just loves Rypien enough to hand him the QB2 baton. Minnesota could sign a QB3 like Tim Boyle and tab Rypien as the QB2.
It could sound wacky, but Rypien is the only other quarterback on the depth chart. Perhaps he deserves a fair QB2 shake.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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