The 5 Wildest Moments of the Vikings Offseason
The Minnesota Vikings’ offseason has all but concluded, with training camp in the team’s grasp and kicking off in Eagan on July 26th.
From surprise theories to head-scratching nonsense, these are the five wildest moments of the 2025 Vikings offseason that will be remembered for a while.
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah used the offseason to rebuild his offensive and defensive trenches, extend his head coach’s contract, add speed in the way of Isaiah Rodgers, Rondale Moore, and Tai Felton, and promote J.J. McCarthy to QB1.
But what about the wild stuff? The ridiculous moments were too wacky to believe.
They’re listed in ascending order (No. 1 = wildest offseason moment)
5. The Horrific Tyreek Hill Trade Idea
The Viking Age proposed a Vikings trade for Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill in April.
On the surface, the idea seemed tantalizing, but the details were appalling. TVA’s Adam Patrick advanced the idea: “The proposed deal has the Vikings sending wide receiver Jordan Addison and a 2026 second-round draft pick to Miami in exchange for Hill and a 2026 third-round selection.”
“Minnesota’s receiving duo of Addison and Justin Jefferson is already one of the best in the NFL, but just imagine how much more explosive the team’s passing attack could be next season if they had Hill and Jefferson lining up on the field at the same time.”
The notion of trading a weapon in Addison, about a decade younger than Hill, and then a loftier draft pick on top of that — was utterly absurd.
Patrick added, “It would be a literal pick-your-poison scenario for opposing defenses every time the Vikings offense stepped on the field. Having a wide receiver duo of Hill and Jefferson to throw to would certainly make life a whole lot easier for J.J. McCarthy in his first season as Minnesota’s starting quarterback.”
“Hill helped the Kansas City Chiefs have a magical season during Patrick Mahomes’s first year as the team’s starting quarterback in 2018. Would he do the same for McCarthy in 2025?”
Naturally, nothing anywhere close to reality materialized from this.
4. Trading a 1st-Rounder for Matthew Stafford
CBS Sports did the honors here.
“This is a much more straightforward deal for Stafford, which would land him with the Minnesota Vikings. First off, this truly centers around the Vikings’ desire to retain Sam Darnold (who faltered down the stretch) and confidence in J.J. McCarthy. If they want to improve their quarterback play from Darnold and still believe McCarthy needs more time to develop, Stafford gives the Vikings a high ceiling for at least the next two seasons,” Tyler Sullivan wrote in February.
“If they think McCarthy is ready to ascend to QB1, however, or decide to stick with Darnold either via the franchise tag or an extension, that blocks this landing spot for Stafford.”
Trading a 1st-Round pick for Stafford, who will be 38 next February, was unfathomable for a team featuring J.J. McCarthy.
Counting Down the Most Ridiculous Vikings Offseason Moments
From Asante Samuel Jr., Aaron Rodgers, to J.J. McCarthy trade theories.
3. The Asante Samuel Jr. Rumor Portion of the Vikings Offseason
A Miami nightclub rumor overheard by someone’s neighbor — that’s how desperate Vikings fans became to believe in the Asante Samuel Jr. segment of the offseason.
SKOR North sponsored the rumor about a month before the draft.
“I was always a bit hesitant to wade too far into the waters of reckless speculation. However, earlier this morning – it’s a couple days ago – I received quite an interesting call from my neighbor. He had just received a text message from his daughter, who is currently in Fort Lauderdale on spring break. She was with friends at the SWAY Nightclub,” Phil Mackey said on the Purple Daily show while reading an anonymous email.
“She noticed a young man in a Vikings cap with an entourage around him. She’s a big football fan and made her way toward him and asked if he played for the Vikings. He kinda smiled and said, ‘It won’t be official for about five weeks, but yes.'”
Mackey then hit the punchline: “So, she then asked for his name and he introduced himself as ‘Asante.'”
It’s worth noting that Samuel Jr. is supposed to receive a verdict on his health in July. We shall see if this rumor meant anything rather soon.
2. The Aaron Rodgers Saga
Aaron Rodgers to the Vikings felt real for a couple of weeks before the draft, especially on Facebook, where the Rodgers suspense could be sliced with a knife.
Adam Schefter later revealed that the Rodgers rumor mill was driven by, well — Rodgers.
Schefter told the Rothman & Ice Show last month that Rodgers and the Vikings’ leadership were “never that close” to an agreement.
He added, “There were conversations with Rodgers, but they never got overly serious. It was just kind of like, I think the interest was more on Aaron’s side, to be honest. He recognized the team the Vikings have, the type of coaches they have, the type of players, receivers they have. And I think that would have been appealing to him.”
But the drama was as real as it was ridiculous.
1. Trading J.J. McCarthy as a Realistic Idea
Several McCarthy trade ideas hit the internet from February to April. Some national media personalities couldn’t wrap their heads around the Vikings starting an inexperienced quarterback in 2025.
One February article from Bleacher Report about “trades they’d like to see” sent McCarthy to Las Vegas.
“The Vikings have one of the most interesting offseason decisions to make with their quarterback situation,” BR’s scouting department wrote. “Teams around the league should be keeping a close eye on what they decide to do with Darnold’s free agency, because there will either be a promising quarterback prospect who could be on the market or a veteran whose stock is on the rise.”
“The Vikings have the lowest investment in this year’s draft with just four total picks and two in the top 100. They could change that quickly if they were willing to trade McCarthy. The Michigan quarterback might have been the top quarterback prospect in this class, and he was only 21 when he was drafted.”
Most Vikings fans laughed at McCarthy trade proposals.
BR concluded about McCarthy to the Raiders: “In this deal, the Raiders could simply use their sixth overall selection to draft a quarterback who may be better than any passer in this draft, and the Vikings get a chance to add a difference-maker to their promising roster.”
McCarthy is now firmly in line to lead the Vikings into 2025 and beyond. Trade theories be damned.
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