Minnesota Vikings part ways with J.J. McCarthy and Jonathan Greenard in separate trade offers from ESPN analyst with one theme

Going into the NFL Draft, there will be a lot of speculation about a potential trade with the Minnesota Vikings. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell proposed multiple trades with Jonathan Greenard and J.J. McCarthy included.

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
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Jan 4, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) walks off the field after the game against the Green Bay Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Jan 4, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) walks off the field after the game against the Green Bay Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium. Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

The NFL Draft is going to be a fascinating one for the Minnesota Vikings. They have been sent 27 players across 386 mock drafts, with the majority of them coming at 18th overall.

It would behoove the Vikings to trade down to gather more draft capital since they need inexpensive contracts to fill out the roster. The biggest reason why Kwesi Adofo-Mensah got fired was a lack of success in the NFL Draft, mainly due to limited day two selections.

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell proposes wild trade offers

Two players the Vikings could realistically trade are quarterback J.J. McCarthy and edge rusher Jonathan Greenard. Despite the announcement of the quarterback competition with Kyler Murray, McCarthy’s future could be seriously in doubt. The same goes for Greenard, but instead of competing for a starting job, he wants a raise.

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell set out to write his yearly piece where he proposes trades for all 32 first-round picks, and the Vikings were involved in two trades, both of which were up and not down.

The first one in the piece was trading up to ninth overall, sending No. 18, 97, and Greenard for No. 9 and edge rusher Felix Anudike-Uzomah. The idea here is getting a depth replacement for Greenard with a former first-round pick, but that monacre isn’t going to excite anyone.

This places the value of Greenard at the 75th overall pick per the Rich Hill trade chart, as Anudike-Uzomah is worth a late seventh with the poor start to his career. Barnwell cites it as being worth the 54th overall pick on the Jimmy Johnson trade chart, which itself is archaic.

There is one main thing wrong with this move: it takes away day two capital while also not helping the Vikings actually receive anything directly for Greenard. Using him as a trade piece to move up in a draft that is poor at the top isn’t good process whatsoever.

If you think that is bad, it gets worse.

J.J. McCarthy trade offer is void of any value

Barnwell didn’t stop there, as he proposed the Vikings sending No. 18, 97 and McCarthy to the Rams for No. 13. That puts the value of McCarthy at an abysmal 138th overall. While his performance thus far hasn’t wowed anyone, trading him for such a low return. Heck, McCarthy feels like a throw-in with this trade. Is the player at 13th overall worth giving up your 10th overall pick from 2024 and No. 97? Barnwell certainly feels he’s only worth a dart throw for the Rams.

Is McCarthy a viable solution? The results we’ve seen so far say no. But great coaches also have a habit of revitalizing quarterbacks who didn’t look like NFL-caliber starters. Sean McVay turned around Baker Mayfield’s career after he had been unceremoniously dumped by the Browns and Panthers. Kyle Shanahan turned Sam Darnold in the right direction and appears to have righted the path for Mac Jones. Andy Reid helped save Nick Foles’ career before the backup won a Super Bowl with the Eagles.

Of course, McCarthy was already under one of those highly touted coaches in Kevin O’Connell, who was on McVay’s staff in Los Angeles. In addition to the issues McCarthy had as a pure passer during the 2025 season, he missed all of 2024 with a knee injury and was sidelined by multiple injuries in 2025. It might be tough to count on him making it through a full 17-game season, let alone playing well in the process.

At the right price, though, taking a flyer on McCarthy would make sense. The Vikings are unlikely to move forward with the 2024 ninth overall pick as their quarterback of the future, having signed Kyler Murray to take over as their starter in 2026 before deciding on McCarthy’s fifth-year option after the season. Getting something for the 23-year-old quarterback would make sense if the organization has decided it is going to be heading in a different direction. This move up would get the Vikes ahead of the Bucs and Jets if they want to look toward secondary help in Round 1.

ESPN's Bill Barnwell

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The big issue here with Barnwell’s logic is simple: talented players are being treated as throw ins with the idea that the Vikings need to trade up for secondary in a very good class for both cornerback and safety. That’s not exactly good process, nor one they have shown a propensity to do.

Make no mistake about it, these moves are not something the Vikings should consider doing.

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