Vikings Sign Carson Wentz’s Replacement
The Minnesota Vikings lived without a third quarterback on their roster for about two days following Carson Wentz’s season-ending shoulder injury. On Wednesday morning, the club locked in veteran passer John Wolford, who will reside on the practice squad and likely become an emergency quarterback on gamedays.
It didn’t take too terribly long for the Minnesota Vikings to sign a veteran quarterback after Carson Wentz hit injured reserve with a bad shoulder.
Wolford is a journeyman veteran these days, a quintessential QB3 type.
QB John Wolford to Vikings
It’s J.J. McCarthy, Max Brosmer — and Wolford.
3rd QB Arrives for Vikings
After a short mystery about the eventual passer’s identity — many assumed the Vikings would call on Desmond Ridder or Brett Rypien — Minnesota made Wolford their man.
Vikings.com‘s Craig Peters wrote, “The Minnesota Vikings on Wednesday bolstered depth at quarterback by signing John Wolford to their practice squad. Wolford, 30, appeared in seven NFL games and made four starts from 2020-22, including one start with the L.A. Rams in 2020 when Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell was his offensive coordinator.”
“In that contest, an 18-7 home win against Arizona to conclude the regular season, Wolford completed 22 of 38 passes for 231 yards with an interception and passer rating of 64.7. He was sacked twice but added 56 rushing yards on six carries, helping the Rams finish 10-6 and prep for their playoff run.”
The quarterback cabinet is fully stocked once again.
Who Is … John Wolford?
Wolford went undrafted in 2018, latching onto the New York Jets in free agency after the draft. He didn’t last long in New York, trying on the Arizona Hotshots for size a year later, a franchise in the now-defunct Alliance of American Football league. Thereafter, Wolford landed in Los Angeles, where he made a mini-name for himself as a backup to Jared Goff.
He also won a Super Bowl ring in 2021 with the Rams as a reserve passer.
Wolford has appeared in seven games in nine seasons, starting four regular season games, as his teams went 2-2 in those contests. He’s banked 626 passing yards in those seven games with one touchdown and 5 interceptions. The new Viking isn’t known for a strong arm — he’s more a rhythm passer — and is 6’1″ and 218 pounds.
O’Connell offensively coordinated Wolford in 2020 and 2021 with the Rams. Hence, the connection.
Wolford’s resume to date:
- New York Jets (2018)
- Arizona Hotshots (2019)
- Los Angeles Rams (2019–2022)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2023)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (2024-2025)
Ideally, Fans Will Never See Him
Here’s the deal: the goal, as vicious as it may sound, is never to see Wolford. That’s right. Vikings fans never want to see the man play.
If that comes to fruition, it will have meant that McCarthy, alas, remained healthy after a bumpy bout with leg injuries to start his young career. The best-case scenario is for Wolford to live on the practice squad, perhaps be called up to the gameday roster a few times as an emergency quarterback, and then never play.
Max Brosmer will serve as the QB2 for the time being, even if O’Connell has no interest (until the very end) whatsoever in inserting him into last week’s game while Wentz got pummeled.
Continuation of the McVayian & Shanahanian Retreads
O’Connell loves this retread quarterback arrangement with players from the Sean McVay orbit. Wentz stopped by Los Angeles in 2023. Brett Rypien is another example. Sam Darnold came to Minnesota from San Francisco, a pit stop with Kyle Shanahan.
McVay, Shanahan, and O’Connell pretty much play a round-robin with QB2s and QB3s, as the offenses are similar and straightforward for the player to grasp.
Wolford makes all the sense in the world as a Vikings QB3 in 2025. There is no surprise about this. Not one bit.
CBS Sports on Wolford
Jordan Dajani profiled Wolford on Wednesday: “While Wolford has been a member of four different NFL franchises, he has only suited up for the Rams, who employed Kevin O’Connell as their offensive coordinator at the time.”
“The undrafted prospect out of Wake Forest played in seven games from 2020-2022 with four starts (2-2), and completed 58.7% of his passes for 626 yards, one touchdown and five interceptions. Wolford also started in the Rams’ wild-card game against the Seattle Seahawks in 2020 following a late-season injury to Jared Goff, but suffered a neck injury in the first quarter that required him to be taken to a local hospital.”
Wolford turned 30 two weeks ago.
Dajani continued, “Wolford returned to the Rams the following year and served as Matthew Stafford’s backup as Los Angeles went on to win Super Bowl LVI. Wolford experienced a successful college career at Wake Forest.”
“He set school records in his final season with 3,192 passing yards, 29 touchdown passes, 3,875 total yards and 39 total touchdowns, and was the only ACC player in 2017 to record two games of six total touchdowns, one of which came in a win against Lamar Jackson’s Louisville Cardinals.”
Practice squad players cannot be named the emergency quarterback on gameday, so it will be intriguing to see how Minnesota threads the needle with Wolford.
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