Everyone’s Favorite New Viking Makes NFL Futures List

Last season, Max Brosmer joined the Minnesota Gophers and put up one of the best QB seasons in school history. Not only did his football talent shine when the lights went on, but the FCS grad transfer’s rare combination of smarts, work ethic and leadership abilities make him incredibly easy to like.

After throwing for over 3000 yards, 18 touchdowns and completely changing the way PJ Fleck views the quarterback position, Max Brosmer found his way onto multiple pre-draft stages, including the NFL Combine and the East-West Shrine Bowl, both of which he took full advantage of.

Minnesota Vikings UDFA turns longshot opportunity into NFL future

Yet… Max still rolled into the 2025 NFL Draft as an under-the-radar longshot to hear his name called in any of the seven rounds. Sure enough, Brosmer went undrafted, which allowed him to sign with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent for a cool $240K signing bonus.

Related: MN Vikings Have Told Max Brosmer to Back Off

And from the moment Dinkytown’s one-and-done quarterback stepped inside TCO Performance Center, he’s exceeded expectations. The 24-year-old rookie — who is from Davenport, Iowa but grew up in Roswell, GA — entered training camp as Minnesota’s QB4.

By the time it ended, Max was one of three quarterbacks on the MN Vikings final 53-man roster, next to JJ McCarthy and newly signed Carson Wentz. His camp competition at quarterback, 28-year-old Brett Rypien and 25-year-old Sam Howell, were both waived.

The Vikings signed Wentz to make sure they have a QB with NFL experienced when the regular season starts. But if you paid attention to the MN Vikings 2025 preseason at all, then you’re well aware of the diamond in the rough O’Connell & Co seem to have found with Max Brosmer.

Max Brosmer tagged as under-the-radar player to watch

It isn’t just locally that Brosmer is starting to grab the attention of fans and media members. The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue published an article Monday naming one under-the-radar talent that the football world needs to pay attention to, entering the 2025 regular season.

When it came time to choose a player from the Vikings, Rodrigue nearly went with Josh Metellus. In the end, however, the intrigue surrounding Max Brosmer’s preseason come-up was too much for her to pass up.

Do you think I’m nuts yet? I would have picked do-it-all defensive player Josh Metellus, a 2020 sixth-round draft pick, but you can’t write a national feature about a guy and then put him on your under-the-radar list. One thing about going to training camps that is underrated: listening to a really good group of beat writers talk about players coaches love. And in Minnesota, one of them is Brosmer, who made it through cuts and a reshuffling of the backup QB position and now is firmly on a developmental track with the Vikings — albeit low on their depth chart.

Here’s The Athletic’s Alec Lewis on the 24-year-old Brosmer, who I also thought looked great at joint practices: “There is something real here. Maybe it’s a 10-year career as a backup. Perhaps it’s more.”

Jourdan Rodrigue – The Athletic

What’s next for Max Brosmer and the MN Vikings?

Brosmer is the embodiment of what Rodrigue’s article represents. Before the NFL Draft, 32 teams picked a total of 257 players over the Gopher quarterback. By the end of training camp, he was uncuttable. What does that mean for his future? We’ll find out soon enough.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Vikings are hoping they don’t see Max take the field for any meaningful snaps in 2025, with redshirt 1st round pick, J.J. McCarthy, taking the reins under center. That doesn’t mean Brosmer can’t serve as a stable backup, or even parlay early QB2/QB3 experience into a future starting role elsewhere.

Related: Retired NFL Vet Cannot Get Enough of Vikings QB

Minnesota fans got to see what Brosmer can do under center for the Gophers. It was exciting for him to continue working with the Vikings during the preseason. Now the groundwork has been laid, and the arrow for his future is pointing up, to the point where he’s grabbing attention nationall too.