Confirmed: Vikings Won’t Tag Kyler Murray Next Offseason

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New and former Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks, Kyler Murray and Sam Darnold
Credit: Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After a couple weeks worth of rumors and reports connecting Kyler Murray to the Minnesota Vikings, his signing became official on Thursday, after he spent the day in Eagan, visiting TCO Performance Center.

Behind the scenes, the Vikings are trying to convince insiders that Murray and 2024 No. 10 overall draft pick, JJ McCarthy, will compete for the 2026 starting job this summer, and into training camp.

Some reporters are more easily convinced than others, but nobody is pushing the Vikings QB competition narrative harder than ‘one of us‘ Tom Pelissero (NFL Network).

Throughout the Murray courtship, and since, Pelissero has made it very clear that Minnesota’s QB pursuit was about COMPETITION for McCarthy, not finding his replacement.

How feasible that theory really is — considering Kyler Murray probably needs all the starting reps he can get, in order learn Kevin O’Connell’s offense — is up for debate. But Friday morning, Pelissero tripled down on his Murray vs McCarthy reporting anyway.

Kyler Murray has a no-tag clause in Minnesota Vikings contract

Included in his hit on Good Morning Football Friday, Pelissero confirmed that Kyler Murray’s new contract in Minnesota includes a no-tag clause for next offseason.

So no matter how well he plays in 2026, the MN Vikings will not be able to franchise or transition tag him for 2027. Unless the two sides agree to an extension before the start of the 2027 league year, Kyler Murray will become a free agent again next March.

“You have tremendous value for the Vikings, who get Kyler Murray to come in and compete for the starting job, while Murray gets an opportunity to reboot his career with a coach, in Kevin O’Connell, who has done amazing work in the past with the likes of Sam Darnold.

Murray also critically gets a no-tag clause, meaning if this season goes as Murray thinks, he wins the job, he balls out, he gets to hit free agency again in 2027, when again, if everything goes according to plan, he will be the op QB on the market.

First thing’s first, though, Murray has to compete with JJ McCarthy, who just two years ago was the Vikings’ first round draft pick. It was a rollercoaster ride for McCarthy in year two, after missing his entire first season with a meniscus injury. But the hope in the building is that the competition is going to bring out the best, not just in Kyler Murray, but in JJ McCarthy too.”

Tom Pelissero – Good Morning Football (NFL Network)

Smart contractual move for Murray

This is a savvy contractual move by the Kyler Murray camp. They weren’t able to negotiate money. No matter where he landed, he was signing a $1.3 million deal. Anything more than that would have made life easier for the Cardinals, and nothing more.

But he did have the leverage to force Minnesota into a no-tag clause that will make his life much easier next offseason. Unlike what happened to Daniel Jones this year with the Colts, the Vikings will not be able to tag Murray with either the transition or franchise tags.

Related: Vikings’ High Price Disappointment Lands with New Team

In other words, if Kyler plays well enough to make Kevin O’Connell want him back in 2027, the Vikings will have to pay him to stay long-term. Of course, if Murray plays like a 2026 MVP candidate for the Minnesota Vikings, nobody will care about his no-tag clause next offseason.

However, if Kyler plays somewhere between average and really good, it will put the Vikings into a financial QB conundrum that they are WAY too familiar with.

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