Vikings Could Already Have Their Next QB Move Lined Up
The Minnesota Vikings fell into the fortune of signing Kyler Murray for just $1.3 million. The Arizona Cardinals are stuck paying the bag for a quarterback they no longer have interest in. Minnesota also further solidified its quarterback room by bringing back veteran Carson Wentz. That leaves former first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy twisting in the wind.
While this seemed like a logical outcome, it puts McCarthy in a spot where he and the Vikings may have little interest in moving forward. McCarthy looks like a nothingburger sent to the doldrums, and Kevin O’Connell may not have the time to devote to a guy who will be the QB3 on the depth chart.
McCarthy-to-Cardinals Trade Actually Makes Sense
Trade rumors surrounding McCarthy have been prevalent since the Vikings signed Murray. Nobody being honest with themselves sees it as a competition, and it became clearer once Wentz joined the fray. Of course, Minnesota won’t recoup the value needed to land the Michigan product at 10th overall, but maybe they could find something and do right by the player as well.
There’s little reason to believe that McCarthy doesn’t have a future in the NFL. He’s still incredibly raw and could be a very good developmental project. The problem is that his timeline doesn’t align with his current employer’s. Through no fault of his own, and aside from an inability to stay healthy, a parting of ways makes sense.
It’s pretty straightforward to suggest that Minnesota could ask the Indianapolis Colts to swap post-hype first-round prospects. Anthony Richardson is now Daniel Jones’ backup. The Colts gave Jones, who had a brief stop in Minnesota, a sizable payday this offseason. McCarthy would join the same quarterback room as a guy who had no interest in sitting behind him an offseason ago. This time, though, the roles would be reversed.
Beyond that, there aren’t a ton of suitors. Bad teams already have options, or are in a position to grab one. The Titans just took Cam Ward. New York is running it back with Geno Smith. The Raiders will land Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick in April.
Arizona, however, where Murray came from, could not look more inept.
Jacob Brissett is a fine retread veteran backup. The same can be said about Gardner Minshew. Neither is going to reinvent the wheel at this point in their careers, and expecting the franchise to build their future around them would be the foolish lunacy that has them in this predicament.
Enter J.J. McCarthy.
If a team actually wants to watch McCarthy compete for a starting job, then the Cardinals should be it. Maybe he’s not ready to come in and beat out Brissett and Minshew immediately. That would be disappointing for him, but further indicative of the status Minnesota currently sees. What he should be, though, is a future option.
This will be McCarthy’s third year in the NFL. At some point this season, if and when the Cardinals are again bad, they can turn over the offense to the Wolverine championship winner. He then has a runway to stake a claim for the job and would give Arizona indications of whether they’d want to pick up his fifth-year option when prompted next year.
McCarthy sees little benefit in stashing an inactive for Minnesota, and there’s probably no team that should be willing to pony up draft capital for a young quarterback swing like Arizona. The fit is there. Make the call.
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