Vikings Wisely Jump Out of Rodgers Chase, Roll with McCarthy
I was not at all surprised by the news that the Vikings have stepped out of the Aaron Rodgers derby and are firmly committed to turning over the starting quarterback reins to J.J. McCarthy.
This was the path GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and coach Kevin O’Connell chose when they didn’t retain Kirk Cousins in March of 2024, signed Sam Darnold on a one-year bridge deal, and drafted McCarthy as No. 10 overall.
Vikings Wisely Jump Out of Rodgers Chase, Roll with McCarthy
The Vikings wanted to roll with a young, talented QB in McCarthy on a rookie contract and use the extra salary cap room that comes with that scenario to build a great supporting cast around McCarthy. And trust O’Connell and QB coach Josh McCown to coach up McCarthy, who has recovered from the knee meniscus surgeries that sent him to injured reserve after playing in only one preseason game in 2024.
If Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell didn’t still have faith in that plan or doubted McCarthy could stay healthy and emerge as a quality starter and future Pro Bowler, they would’ve put the franchise or transition tag on Darnold or made a strong enough offer to keep him for at least one more year before he left for Seattle (or sweetened their offer to Daniel Jones before he signed with the Colts).
I never thought the Rodgers talk to the Vikings was serious from the Vikings’ standpoint and was fueled by Rodgers and his agent, who rightly believed Minnesota was the best team for him to play for as a 14-win team that has improved via their free agency moves and would give Rodgers one of the league’s best group of skill position players to play with and better than the Steelers and Giants, the other two teams he is considering.
Of course, the national media was all over the story, and the Vikings were smart to shut down the Rodgers to Minnesota chatter with leaks to key national media members without ever having Adofo-Mensah or O’Connell address it on the record.
I’ve said all along that Rodgers is not the same caliber QB he was in his last MVP season of 2021 in Green Bay. He’ll turn 42 in December, was a losing QB in his final season with the Packers in 2023, missed the 2024 season with the Jets after tearing his Achilles in the opener, and went 5-12 as a Jets starter last season with his 90.5 passer rating the worst of his career.
Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell were smart not to get sucked into the Rodgers to the Vikings false hype. Signing Rodgers would have created way too much drama and would’ve significantly hindered McCarthy’s development by forcing him into the backup role this coming season and, quite possibly, in 2026 if Rodgers actually played well.
If that unfolded, McCarthy would not start until his fourth season, so the Vikings wouldn’t have attained maximum benefit from their first-round pick on his rookie deal. It would be similar to Jordan Love’s situation as he sat behind Rodgers for his first three years, and by the time he took over, his salary had already jumped to the point that he’s a $55 million per year QB who has started only two seasons.
That was not what the Vikings brass had in mind when they drafted McCarthy, and O’Connell is surely confident he can coach up his young QB as he did with Cousins and Darnold, who had their best seasons under KOC.
Of course, McCarthy now has to take advantage of one of the NFL’s best-supporting casts on offense (led by all-pro WR Justin Jefferson and 2024 Coach-of-the-Year O’Connell, along with Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, Jones, and Jordan Mason in the backfield and what appears to be the Vikings best O-line in many years including the return from ACL surgery of one of the league’s best left tackles in Christian Darrisaw who with Brian O’Neill creates a terrific pair of bookend OTs).
By hanging onto their $63 million in salary cap room entering free agency, the Vikings were able to have one of the most successful forays into free agency among all NFL teams over the past 10 days.
They bolstered the offensive line to support McCarthy by signing two quality free agents (as long as they stay healthy) from Indianapolis in center Ryan Kelly and guard Will Fries (who was sought by many teams). It’s a good thing they’ve moved on from center Garrett Bradbury, a good team guy but not a top center that Kelly is as a four-time Pro Bowler.
In the backfield, it was a great pair of moves to re-sign Aaron Jones off his career-best season but keep him fresh late in the season and in the playoffs by pairing him with ex-49ers RB Jordan Mason, a younger back at 25. Mason ranked seventh in the league last season with his 5.2 average yards per carry, and he led the league in missed tackles, which resulted in a forced percentage of 37.3 for players with at least 150 carries.
Cam Akers was a good No. 2, but Mason is better and doesn’t bring the injury risk of Akers. Ty Chandler or a new draftee can be the third back on the depth chart who will be needed if Jones misses a game or two.
On defense, the Vikings made key moves up front by signing a pair of Pro Bowl DTs who are fine pass rushers and run defenders in Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave. Vikings fans should be thrilled to think of DC Brian Flores now having Allen and Hargrave to work with 2024 Pro Bowl edge/OLBs Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, along with last year’s first-round edge/OLB Dallas Turner. That’s a scary proposition for NFL QBs and offensive coordinators to ponder.
There’s also the intriguing addition of WR Rondale Moore, a former second-round pick of the Cardinals, to compete with Jalen Nailor for the WR3 role and possibly replace Brandon Powell as the team’s punt returner.
It was critical to keep their best corner — Pro Bowler Byron Murphy on a lucrative three-year deal, and the large amount of cap room from their QB decision also allowed them to re-sign future Hall of Fame safety Harrison Smith and add a former No. 3 overall pick of Detroit in corner Jeff Okudah (who also needs to stay healthy) and corner Isaiah Rodgers from the Super Bowl champion Eagles.
I liked the re-signing of safety Theo Jackson while letting Cam Bynum depart to Indy. And the Vikings still have the cap room to bring back a solid starting corner in Stephon Gilmore.
Under-the-radar moves include helping the special teams after losing Trent Sherfield to Denver by signing two excellent special teamers in WR Tim Jones and DB Tavierre Thomas (who also can add depth at their regular positions).
Now the Vikings need to sign a veteran QB with starting experience, such as Carson Wentz or Joe Flacco, to back up McCarthy after other suitable candidates for the role in Marcus Mariota and Gardner Minshew signed on with Washington and Kansas City, respectively.
Around the NFL Free Agency Observations
1. The Bengals made their star QB Joe Burrow happy by signing franchised WR Tee Higgins for four years and $115 million while also giving their all-pro WR Ja’Marr Chase a $41 million per year extension to overtake Jefferson as the league’s highest-paid WR (and jump Myles Garrett as the highest paid non-QB). If the Bengals can keep Burrow healthy and improve their shaky defense (starting with keeping the league’s top sacker in Trey Hendrickson, who wants a new deal), they’ll be positioned to return to Super Bowl-contending status.
2. I still have a hard time seeing Atlanta hanging onto Cousins as an unhappy $27.5 million backup QB despite the huge dead money hit they’d take by trading him ($75 million to spread over two years). They say they’re fine with keeping him in that role, but I think they’ll move on if they get a decent trade offer from a team such as the Browns (with head coach Kevin Stefanski having been Cousins’ OC at the Vikings).
3. Pro days are now going in full force as the next phase of the ongoing pre-draft process becomes a case of overanalyzing these incoming rookies. In my team exec years, I would’ve loved how the Big 12 is doing a joint Pro Day for 16 schools in Dallas this week. That saves a lot of time and money for teams instead of flying GMs, scouts, and select coaches to all of these schools when they had separate pro days.
Highly-rated QB Shedeur Sanders and talented CB/WR (and Heisman Trophy winner) Travis Hunter—both from Colorado–will be part of this Big 12 pro day as they do the drill work they avoided in Indianapolis at the Combine. As an elite and unique player, Hunter reportedly will do defensive back and wide receiver drills.
Draft boards were set up in earnest back in January and updated in scouting department meetings after the Combine. At pro days, GMs are looking for reinforcement of their grades and rankings of players with the possibility of tweaking the grades depending on pro day performances. Still ahead are April visits with players at team facilities and on campus. It’s all too much, but there’s a lot at stake for the players and teams come draft days from April 24-26.
Vikings QB2 Plan Down to 3 Options
Jeff Diamond is a former Vikings GM, former Tennessee Titans President and was selected NFL Executive of the Year after the Vikings’ 15-1 season in 1998. He now works for the NFL agent group IFA based in Minneapolis and does other sports consulting and media work along with college/corporate speaking. Follow him and direct message him on Twitter– @jeffdiamondnfl
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