The Early Verdict on the Vikings’ Kyler Murray Move
On Thursday, the Minnesota Vikings finalized a contract with free agent quarterback Kyler Murray. The passing game needed a boost after a subpar 2025 campaign, and the two-time All-Star is supposed to provide that.
It’s a cheap one-year deal, costing the franchise just $1.3 million. His arrival is certainly a reason for excitement, but what did the big outlets say about it?
ESPN’s Seth Walder gave the Vikings an A. He explained, “The Vikings pulled off an absolute coup at the game’s most important position.”
The Vikings watched their 2025 season go down the drain due to the uneven passing attack and hope Murray’s presence gives them a higher floor this year. Walder views Murray as more than the classic reclamation project.
“There’s going to be a lot of talk about reclamation projects connected to the Vikings in the wake of the Seahawks winning the Super Bowl with Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones’ resurgence last season in Indianapolis. But Murray’s peak was substantially higher than those two before they arrived in Minnesota. By comparison, helping Murray should feel like easy mode for Kevin O’Connell.”
O’Connell has fared well with veteran quarterbacks. Murray has the experience and the talent to thrive.
“This is not just about rehabbing Murray’s image,” Walder added, “and shipping him off a year from now for some draft picks. If it breaks right, Murray can help the Vikings be a playoff threat now.”
Murray has 87 starts under his belt, having passed for 121 touchdowns and rushed for another 32. He has the mobility and the accuracy to do some damage with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison as his main targets.
Carter Bahns and Garrett Podell of CBS Sports went a little further, giving the deal an A+.
They wrote, “The value the Vikings got on this deal is about as good as it gets with Murray signing for the veteran minimum thanks to the Cardinals owing him $36.8 million in guaranteed money after his release. Minnesota is in a win-win situation with this move for a couple of reasons: competing with Murray could elevate McCarthy to greater heights, or Murray could simply beat out McCarthy and thrive at a Pro Bowl level once again.”
Either the Vikings have a two-time Pro Bowler under center who had a good season as recently as 2024, or J.J. McCarthy emerges as a competition winner over him. It’s a massive upgrade to the QB room for only peanuts in the grand scheme of the salary cap.
They added that Murray will join an offense ready to help him produce a strong season, with talented pass-catchers and a QB-friendly coach in his corner.
Brent Sobleski, Bleacher Report, wrote about the new pairing, after handing out another A: “From the moment that news broke that Kyler Murray was going to be released by the Arizona Cardinals, there has been rampant speculation that he could land in Minnesota. After a trip to the Twin Cities Thursday, the Vikings sealed the deal, signing Murray to a veteran minimum deal that includes a no-tag clause. That clause is the only thing stopping this deal from being an A+.”
The no-tag clause is indeed a small asterisk. If Murray is balling out in 2026, the Vikings would have to negotiate a deal with him without having the fallback option of a franchise tag. However, that is something to worry about next year. It’s also worth noting that it only becomes a problem if Murray is coming off a good season — nobody would care if he departs after a 6-11 season with 15 touchdowns and 15 interceptions — and after a good season, the deal would be worth it even without the franchise tag option.
Sobleski added, “This is a coup for the Vikings—full stop. Not only do they get an upgrade on J.J. McCarthy (who will no doubt ‘compete’ for the starting job—and lose), but they get it for pennies—the Arizona Cardinals will pay Murray over $35 million to play for the Vikings this year. Yes. Murray’s level of play has fallen after Offensive Rookie of the Year honors and two Pro Bowls over his first three seasons. But just two years ago, Murray completed almost 69 percent of his passes for 3,851 yards and 21 touchdowns. Murray has also tallied almost 3,200 rushing yards over his career.”
The passer has struggled with injuries over the last four seasons, missing time across the 2022 and 2023 seasons with an ACL tear. He was also limited to five games in 2025, but played the entire 2024 campaign.
“If Kevin O’Connell can work his reclamation magic again with Murray,” Sobleski concluded, “this could be the most impactful free agent signing of 2026.”
Murray to Minnesota has generated some early buzz. Because games are won between September and February, not in March, the Vikings won’t get any bonus points for the signing, but he has undoubtedly the potential to help them stack wins in six months.
Bonus: Controversial TV personality Skip Bayless posted on social media, “The Minnesota Vikings just won next year’s NFC North and at least one playoff game. #HailMurray”
Reality, of course, will be decided on the field this fall.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.
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