QB2 Option for Vikings Already Recovered from Nasty Injury
The Minnesota Vikings will sign a new quarterback in about six weeks, a player to support or compete against J.J. McCarthy this summer, and one option is suddenly healthy: Kansas City Chiefs QB2 Gardner Minshew.
Minshew’s recovery flips his free-agency outlook, and Minnesota could view him as a sturdy insurance policy for McCarthy.
The veteran passer suffered a knee injury last month that was reported to the masses as a torn ACL, but that information was false. Minshew is evidently ready to go … now.
Minshew’s Health Changes Minnesota’s Options
A stroke of good luck boosts Minshew’s free agency.
Not a Torn ACL for Minshew
Minshew could play today, if needed.
Rotowire reported Wednesday, “Minshew (knee) will not require any procedures to address the season-ending knee injury he suffered in Week 16 and is already back to full strength, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. Minshew missed the final two games of the regular season due to a left knee injury initially reported as a torn ACL and was then diagnosed as a non-displaced tibial plateau fracture, though Schefter now reports that the veteran quarterback merely suffered a bone bruise.”
“After having played out the 2025 season on a one-year, $1.17 million contract with the Chiefs, Minshew will now be fully healthy in time to hit free agency this offseason. If he doesn’t reunite with Kansas City, Minshew should have little difficulty securing a backup role elsewhere in the league.”
And just like that, QB-needy teams have another seasoned QB2 option on the menu for March.
Free Agency in 39 Days
Minshew’s advantageous news paves the way for a clean free agency. He can sign anywhere in the NFL in less than six weeks. Last year, Minshew earned $1.1 million with the Chiefs and hopes to slightly raise that number in 2026 as the pay scale rises.
Had Minshew suffered the torn ACL, as initially feared, he’d hang in limbo until a full recovery, which at his age, approaching 30, might have gone all the way to November or December. With just a bone bruise, though, Minshew can expect to command his maximum value in free agency.
Here’s his NFL resume through six seasons:
- Jacksonville Jaguars (2019–2020)
- Philadelphia Eagles (2021–2022)
- Indianapolis Colts (2023)
- Las Vegas Raiders (2024)
- Kansas City Chiefs (2025)
A Vikings Option?
Yes, Minshew could realistically be a QB2 option for the Vikings. Minnesota has a few paths to consider for a quarterback this offseason. It can sign someone like Minshew or Jimmy Garoppolo and rest easy knowing it has an experienced backup to take over if McCarthy falters or gets injured. The Vikings would also shoot for the stars and trade for a passer like Kyler Murray or Mac Jones — or even Joe Burrow or Lamar Jackson if those men somehow became available.
Or — general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah can pursue a quarterback with untapped upside, probably via trade. Players like Anthony Richardson, Will Levis, or Zach Wilson (free agency) fit the criteria.
Malik Willis, as well, is a free agent and played like a Pro Bowler in limited action this season with the Green Bay Packers.
Minshew could also return to the Chiefs. Kansas City Star‘s Blair Kerkhoff wrote Wednesday, “With Gardner Minshew back at full strength, could he continue in his role as the Chiefs’ backup quarterback? While recovering, Mahomes will be unable to lead his typical offseason workouts.”
“In an interview earlier this month, Chiefs coach Andy Reid suggested Minshew, who signed a one-year deal with KC for the 2025 season and is now approaching free agency, could continue here in the backup role. If not Minshew, a seven-year NFL veteran, the Chiefs would be interested in a player with similar experience. Their backup quarterbacks before Minshew were veterans Carson Wentz, Blaine Gabbert and Chad Henne.”
The Career Production
Minshew has started 47 games in his career, and teams are 17-30 (.361) on his watch. Not ideal. He accounts for about 190 passing yards per game and owns a career 68-35 TD-INT split. Minshew was at the peak of his powers as a rookie, believe it or not, posting 21 touchdowns to just 6 picks in the 2019 campaign with the Jaguars, when Jacksonville went 6-6 on his watch.
In seasons when he’s started eight games or more, here’s where Minshew ranks in EPA+CPOE, a stat that measures points and wins added:
- 2019: 31st
- 2020: 20th (of 32)
- 2021: Did Not Qualify
- 2022: Did Not Qualify
- 2023: 24th (of 32)
- 2024: 29th
- 2025: Did Not Qualify
Minshew will turn 30 in May.
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