Grade The Contract: Carson Wentz’s deal with Minnesota Vikings is another signal about the future of J.J. McCarthy
Kevin O’Connell is very serious about the quarterback position.
On Thursday morning, the Minnesota Vikings announced they had signed quarterback Carson Wentz to a one-year contract.
It’s not a big surprise that the Vikings chose to add another quarterback to the room after head coach Kevin O’Connell has been forced to start at least three quarterbacks in two of his four seasons as the head coach. He made it a priority going into the 2024 season to have three quarterbacks he was comfortable with. It didn’t work as well in 2025 for multiple reasons, including Max Brosmer proving that he wasn’t ready.
Vikings make serious investment in Carson Wentz
We knew that it was a one-year contract for Wentz, but what we didn’t know was how much the deal would be for. It ends up being worth $3 million with a salary cap hit of $3.05 million. Here’s how it breaks down via Over The Cap
- $1.545 million base salary
- $1.1 million signing bonus
- $255k per game roster bonus
- $100k workout bonus
- $200k other bonus
- $2.645 million is fully guaranteed at signing
That’s a lot of money for a player who some expected to come into Minnesota and be QB3. The money he’s getting is another signal that they didn’t bring Wentz in to be the third-string quarterback, but rather the backup to Kyler Murray.
We knew that the Vikings wanted to have a three-deep quarterback room, but every action seems to indicate that J.J. McCarthy is going to be the third-string quarterback next season. Should he be the third-string quarterback? Well, that’s a different discussion altogether.
The Vikings seem to be determined to move on from McCarthy after he started just 10 of his first 35 games, missing 25 total games due to various injuries. Not exactly a great resume for a 10th overall pick.
The Vikings could end up trading Wentz if things look good with both McCarthy and Murray, with only $1.1 million in dead cap. Overall, it’s a fine contract for QB2, and it’s good for the salary cap.
Grade: B+
