JJ McCarthy Ready to Demand Trade Out of Minnesota?

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JJ McCarthy celebrates after scoring a touchdown : Minnesota Vikings at Dallas Cowboys
Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Minnesota Vikings have resumed offseason team activities this week, following a couple of days off.

And there’s a noticeable change out at TCO Performance Center, after the Wilfs — with lots of help from head coach Kevin O’Connell — officially hired Seahawks AGM Nolan Teasley as the team’s new general manager and head (kind of) decision-maker.

While there are still plenty of questions surrounding who’s in-charge of the Vikings moving forward, there seems to be a lot more consensus over who will win the starting quarterback battle this summer.

KOC and his offensive coaching staff have months before they technically must crown a QB1. It doesn’t sound like they’ll need that much time, however. All it took for MN Vikings reporters to choose their victor was a couple of non-padded practices last week.

JJ McCarthy struggling with Vikings decision to bring in Kyler Murray

According to reports, Murray looks head and shoulders above McCarthy on the practice field, showing touch and pinpoint accuracy on his passes that JJ only shows in his QB dreams.

And off the field, when speaking with media, the 23-year-old former No. 10 overall draft pick reminded us very quickly how much room he has to grow in front of the microphone… another area that Kyler — a former No. 1 overall pick in his own right — handled much better than JJ.

You saw the clips and the reports, just like I did. But we weren’t the only ones paying attention.

JJ McCarthy ready to demand out of MN if/when he loses QB battle?

On Tuesday, deeply rooted NFL insider Jason La Canfora, who currently writes for SportsBoom.com, dropped a report that includes quotes from an anonymous NFL general manager who’s been watching the QB happenings in Minnesota, as well.

And that unnamed GM didn’t hold back, telling La Canfora that he’s convinced McCarthy already wants out. In fact, this general manager believes JJ’s been ready to request a trade since they acquired Kyler Murray back in March, noting that the personality fit between the two is “got going to be a good fit”.

How did one general manager interpret [McCarthy’s remarks last week]?

“I think he wants out of there,” the GM said. 

“I think he’s wanted out of there since they signed Murray. Those personalities are not going to be a good fit.”

SportsBoom.com

JJ McCarthy got 10 opportunities to start games for the Minnesota Vikings last season, and he flopped like an undercooked pancake — tossing for 1,632 yards (57.6%), 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

His unreadiness combined with a litany of QB injury and depth issues in 2025 is what forced the Vikings into signing Kyler Murray this offseason, and absolutely played into former GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah losing his job.

MN Vikings have maturity and demeanor concerns with McCarthy

There have been rumblings over the past year about concerns behind the Minnesota Vikings scenes over JJ McCarthy’s immaturity, though it’s important to note that many of his teammates have come to bat for him in those moments.

Nonetheless, if you watched his OTA interview above (or just about any public speaking appearance the young QB has made during his time as Vikings starting quarterback, you know how some of his teammates feel about certain McCarthyisms.

And La Canfora’s report only confirms the Minnesota Vikings’ internal concerns over McCarthy’s “maturity and demeanor behind the scenes”.

McCarthy flamed out in esteemed head coach Kevin O’Connell’s offense last year and also had some issues with his maturity and demeanour behind the scenes, according to league sources, which went into an obvious plan to upgrade on him if possible this offseason despite there being a limited market of quarterback talent available.

Jason La Canfora – SportsBoom.com

If JJ McCarthy does indeed demand a trade out of Minnesota once Kyler Murray is officially named Vikings starting quarterback, it would not be ideal for the team that drafted him top 10 just two years ago.

McCarthy’s stock is at an all-time low. If he were to humbly accept his QB2 role and commit to putting in the work behind the scenes, that price would undoubtedly go up over the next 6 to 12 months, should he start to improve behind the scenes.

However, should he request out, I can’t imagine a world where the MN Vikings do not honor it. They have playoff plans in 2026 and will not want that type of division in the locker room.

Mike Florio fans flames on McCarthy trade rumors

If that’s how the future unfolds, the most obvious landing spot is Los Angeles, where his former head coach at Michigan could use a backup QB upgrade for Justin Herbert and his Chargers.

That’s what ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio suggested Monday on PFT Live, reminding his viewers of rumors that surfaced last offseason suggesting McCarthy was ready to request a trade back then, if the Vikings would have retained either Sam Darnold or Daniel Jones.

“Trade him to the Chargers. I know they’ve got Trey Lance back, to be an understudy to Justin Herbert. But Jim Harbaugh is the one who went on and on about JJ McCarthy.

I think back to March of 2025, when nobody knew what the Vikings were going to do [at quarterback]. Nobody knew who was in charge. Those were all things I was hearing from reliable sources… no one knew who was calling the shots. No one knew what they were going to do at quarterback.

But I did pick up the idea that, if they brought back Sam Darnold or Daniel Jones last year, they were going to have a major problem with JJ McCarthy. I think that may be one of the reasons why they decided, ‘You know what, fine, fine. You’re the guy, go be the guy.'”

Mike Florio – PFT Live
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