How to Fix the Minnesota Vikings
It will be a long way back, at least emotionally, for the Minnesota Vikings to return to prominence. The franchise has fallen to a 4-8 record after freshly completing its competitive rebuild and declaring itself ready to contend for a Super Bowl.
The Vikings have reached a rock bottom — or so we think — with a 4-8 record, and the franchise desperately needs repair for 2026 and beyond.
The fix will not be straightforward, but no matter what, it’s time to begin pondering the necessary steps.
The following options are not ranked in any specific order, as it is difficult to determine if the team’s ownership group will terminate the contracts of general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and/or head coach Kevin O’Connell — or stay the course for another offseason.
The Blueprint to Fix the Vikings
There are four options.
Option A: Trade for Kyler Murray or Mac Jones
The first option assumes that Mark and Zygi never make abrupt decisions. They never do.
Yes, this means that the Wilfs, in this scenario, grant Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell one offeason to “fix this.” After all, the Wilfs extended Adofo-Mensah’s contract in the summer, and his extension money hasn’t even kicked in yet.
Needing a swift return to winning ways, Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell scour the NFL trade market for a quarterback, either to take over the QB1 job or push J.J. McCarthy to the brink next summer.
That search, without getting too outlandish, would inevitably lead the pair to Kyler Murray and Mac Jones. The Arizona Cardinals appeared to “softly bench” Murray earlier this month, and Jones is the current QB2 in San Francisco. Very reasonably, either man can be obtained via trade, or so theory goes.
So, needing a splashy offseason to ensure job security and a shot at righting the ship, Minnesota sends a draft pick or two to Arizona or San Francisco for Murray or Jones.
It can really be that simple. Murray can be obtained via trade while the Cardinals stomach a manageable $17 million dead cap hit. And Jones’ dead cap hit would be a couple of million bucks.
Option B: Fire the GM and HC and Start Over + Draft Another QB
Now, pretend the Wilfs depart from their normative behavior of piloting a steady ship. The losses continue to pile up over the next five weeks, and the enterprise becomes even more sour than it is now.
Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell could be terminated, paving the way for a new general manager and head coach as soon as late January or early February. Recognizing that the Vikings haven’t successfully drafted a quarterback since Daunte Culpepper 27 years ago, the new general manager uses a Top 10 pick to fire another dart at the board for a quarterback.
That person wouldn’t necessarily have to cut or trade McCarthy, but the new rookie quarterback would be in the house to compete for the QB1 job next summer.
Is it really possible that multiple general managers could misfire on rookie quarterback selections, year after year and decade after decade? It feels like a curse. Maybe the new general manager would finally put an end to the madness.
The top free-agent passers available in March 2026 will look something like Daniel Jones, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, or Gardner Minshew. Rather than roll with one of those mediocre solutions, the new leadership regime uses its fancy Round 1 pick on another quarterback.
Starting over.
Option C: Stay the Course but Hire a New GM + Competent QB2 for Competition
Next, we have the option that retains O’Connell but cuts ties with Adofo-Mensah.
Adofo-Mensah has an approximate 17% success rate in the NFL Draft — horrible. Behind the scenes, the Vikings would somehow finagle an outcome that keeps O’Connell in the saddle as the head coach while hiring a new general manager who can work with him.
Thereafter, refusing to mail it on McCarthy, Minnesota signs a player like Daniel Jones, Rodgers, Wilson, or Minshew, and promotes a quarterback competition at July training camp.
Too, this would be a prime spot to use the 1st-Round pick on a dynamic running back like Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love. O’Connell, for some reason, refuses to run the football, even while showcasing horrific quarterback play, but with a talent like Love, O’Connell may have no choice.
Fire Adofo-Mensah. Keep McCarthy in the orbit. Sign Rodgers, for example. Draft Jeremiyah Love.
Option D: Swing for the Fences with Almighty QB1 Trade
Here are the fringe theories.
Some Vikings fans on social media insist that a high-profile quarterback may be gettable via trade in the offseason. This is the working theory: one of the following quarterbacks’ teams flops before the playoffs or in the postseason, and that franchise decides that it has seen enough.
Swallowing a ginormous dead cap hit, a fed-up general manager trades one of the following players to Minnesota:
- Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals)
- Sam Darnold (Seattle Seahawks)
- Justin Herbert (Los Angeles Chargers)
- Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars)
- Baker Mayfield (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
- Dak Prescott (Dallas Cowboys)
Whether Adofo-Mensah is still employed or a new boss takes the reins, the Vikings use their 1st- or 2nd-Round pick in 2026 to acquire one of the quarterbacks above — if any are on the trade block in the first place.
Any man from that list would generate instant excitement. It’s just that such deals are wildly unlikely because all would sock an humongous dead cap hit to their existing team before June 1st, 2026. Except Darnold: his is “only” $26 million.
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