Another Insider Casts Serious Doubt on MN Vikings’ Faith in JJ McCarthy

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It’s no secret, at this point. Over the next month, the Minnesota Vikings will bring in a quarterback that they believe has a very good chance of being their starter, come week one of the 2026 NFL regular season.

What we don’t have a firm grasp on yet is what caliber of quarterback this new MN Viking will be. Prior to the Super Bowl, there were rumors they were seeking a blockbuster trade for Joe Burrow or Lamar Jackson.

What are the Minnesota Vikings thinking at quarterback?

More recently, most reports have them circling guys like Kyler Murray and Geno Smith — QBs who are not yet available, but are expected to be released by their current teams around the time free agency begins on March 11.

Unlike this time last year, there is very little chatter connecting Minnesota to more proven veteran options, like Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins or even Daniel Jones. Those rumors are still there, but they have far less steam.

Coming out of the combine, it appears the Vikings are set on yet again trying to thread the JJ McCarthy needle between “competition” vs “replacement”, a game they played last offseason and lost badly.

But remember, there is still a full week between now and the legal tampering period, on March 9, and we’ve also heard Kevin O’Connell and Rob Brzezinski talk an awful lot about avoiding the same QB mistakes that sunk their 2025 hopes and dreams.

NFL insiders split on Vikings quarterback plan

While the general consensus among NFL reporters out of the NFL combine is that the Vikings’ long-term faith in McCarthy remains high, others like Tony Pauline (Essentially Sports) are hearing things a bit differently.

Over the weekend, Pauline reported that the Vikings are running out of faith that McCarthy can recover from last year’s failures and shortcomings fast enough to lead a Minnesota team that is ready to win now.

Then on Monday, ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler started his hit on the Dan Patrick Show by mimicking the same sort of Kyler Murray or Geno Smith talking points, also noting (again) that all the available QBs want to “come to Minnesota”.

“Minnesota, I know, is considering Kyler Murray. He’s one of their stronger considerations, I would say, along with Geno Smith. That’s probably tier one for them. Maybe they look into the Derek Carr situation, but I haven’t heard anything strong there, that teams are in that market right now.

Tua would probably be a backup, second tier option for them. All these guys want to go to Minnesota, Dan, because it’s a great environment. You’ve got Kevin O’Connell, you’ve got Justin Jefferson, you’ve got some pieces to work with.

That is a hot team right now for the quarterback market. Even though they don’t have enough to spend, they have all these quarterbacks that are probably being cut that are cheap because of the offset language and the guarantees they already have.”

Jeremy Fowler on the Dan Patrick Show

Related: Overpaid Vikings Tight End Open to Pay Cut

However, Fowler’s tone today with Dan seemed to change the longer he spoke. And by the time the one-time local insider was done talking, he had reported that the Minnesota Vikings have very little realistic faith in their 23-year-old former top 10 draft pick actually winning whatever competition he’s supposedly a part of.

Vikings less confident in JJ McCarthy than they are leading on?

Fowler compared the McCarthy situation this offseason in MN, to that of the Colts last offseason. In 2025, Indy swiped Jones from under the Vikings’ nose to “compete” with Anthony Richardson, knowing full well that — barring some sort of developmental miracle — Richardson had no chance of beating him out for the starting job.

Dan: “Is JJ McCarthy going to get cut?’

Fowler: “I would be surprised if he gets cut. It’s a similar situation to Anthony Richardson last year. I think, in a perfect world, they’d like to bring someone on… like if you bring on Geno Smith lets say — why I think he’s interesting with Minnesota — He’s had enough struggles where, if you bring him in and sell him as a competitor to JJ, you can kinda sell it, but you can also sell it as, ‘yeah he’s probably the starter, so you’re hedging both ways.

You can keep it alive with JJ a little bit and maybe he surprises you in camp. But we’ve all been there, Dan. It’s kind of like when you get broken up with, or somebody starts seeing other people – when they do that, it’s kind of clear it’s probably over. So there’s that element to the JJ McCarthy situation, as well, similar to Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones.

When they signed Daniel Jones, they were probably going to start him. They were going to have a competition in camp and see if Richardson could play him out, but they sort of knew where it was going. I think this is a similar situation in Minnesota. They know where this is headed, but they’ll leave a little bit of wiggle room for JJ McCarthy to surprise them.”

Dan Patrick Show

If Fowler and Pauline are correct on the Minnesota Vikings’ lack of faith in J.J. McCarthy, then you have to wonder if — as we get closer to the start of free agency and possibly even beyond the — their search could widen.

Because if Vikings brass indeed lacks belief in JJ, but remains bullish on the rest of the roster, wouldn’t it behoove them to swing bigger than Geno Smith, or even Kyler Murray?

Related: MN Vikings Notify First 2026 Cap Casualties

Would Kirk Cousins be the better bridge to their next QB of the future than relying on a blind homerun swing like Murray — who comes with all sorts of baggage, no matter how talented he is? Those are the questions that we should start getting more answers to.

Because it’s clear even the most plugged-in NFL reporters can’t make sense of Minnesota’s 2026 offseason quarterback plans either.

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