Just like it was last offseason, all eyes will be squarely on Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Is he the future at quarterback for head coach Kevin O’Connell?

According to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, all bets are off.

“The best way to put this, based on what sources have said, is that all bets are off. The general manager who drafted McCarthy No. 10 in 2024 has been fired, and the coach who was in full agreement with that decision is now under considerably more scrutiny,” Seifert wrote.

“In the big picture, McCarthy is a talented player who just turned 23 and has a total of 10 NFL starts. Few NFL teams would give up on a quarterback with that profile, and many team builders are particularly enamored with optimizing a quarterback’s rookie contract. Adofo-Mensah was one of them, but his departure is a reminder of the range of outcomes that approach can lead to.

“If anything, these events increase the chances that the Vikings will take a big swing at finding a veteran quarterback who could start in 2026. The only thing more damaging than making the mistakes the Vikings made last season would be to repeat them this year.”

J.J. McCarthy’s future has been in doubt for a while

One thing that will continue to be pointed out this offseason is O’Connell’s quotes about organizations failing young quarterbacks.

“I believe that organizations fail young quarterbacks before young quarterbacks fail organizations. And that’s not there’s no specific example in my mind that I could give you of a team or a quarterback just overall 30,000 foot view,” said O’Connell back in September of 2024.

Over the last few months, the tides have turned regarding McCarthy. After spending all last offseason praising McCarthy, the tone changed. Throughout the season, O’Connell repeatedly noted that McCarthy missed a day of practice ahead of the Week 2 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons to attend the birth of his first child.

It was obviously a point of contention for O’Connell, and his performance didn’t help anything. You can also argue that McCarthy has failed the Vikings because he has played in only 10 of a possible 35 games.

The end-of-season press conference provided more evidence of a potential move, with the team explicitly discussing competition.

“I think there has to be [competition],” said O’Connell in his end of the year press conference. “I think that’s what’s going to make everybody better in that room. It’s going to be what makes our entire offense thrive through that competition.”

Considering how poorly McCarthy played this season, it’s not a surprise. Among the quarterbacks who had 275 passing snaps this season, McCarthy finished:

• 35th in EPA/play
• 34th in success rate
• 36th in completion percentage
• 33rd in expected completion percentage
• 36th in completion percentage over expected

J.J. McCarthy’s teammates aren’t giving a ringing endorsement

One of the benefits of Super Bowl week is players talking to the media about a variety of topics. For Vikings players in San Francisco, McCarthy was a major topic of discussion. They weren’t shy about talking about him either.

Star wide receiver Justin Jefferson was on radio row earlier this week and was asked about McCarthy. His comments across multiple shows haven’t been a ringing endorsement.

“That’s not my decision,” Jefferson said about who becomes the starting quarterback. “I don’t care who’s throwing me that ball. That’s not my main priority… that person that’s throwing that ball needs to throw that ball, and lead us to into that big dance at the end of the season. Right now, J.J. is my QB. For me, it’s to get him to where we need to go; it starts off right now.”

Running back Aaron Jones joined the Night Cap show with Chad Johnson and Shannon Sharpe, and praised the idea of Aaron Rodgers in Minnesota. It was also a subtle dig at McCarthy.

“I like him in Minnesota, just what he brings to a locker room,” Jones said. “Yes, like that leadership, that it’s a standard, like, if you ain’t in your playbook, oh, you ain’t, you ain’t see in the field, he’s gonna test you. He gonna throw some signals out there, and he gonna see if you really care about this, right? And as a player, I love that, because I’m in my books, I’m making an effort. I came from UTEP, from nothing, like, right? So I had to earn that. And when you do it the right way, and it’s noticed, it is refreshing.”

He also had some strong words about how they should have kept Sam Darnold.

“When you got a group of guys behind a QB, and he wants to stay, I think you should try to make it work.”

The idea that McCarthy will be the starting quarterback next year isn’t certain, and those in the building aren’t exactly giving him a ringing endorsement. Plus, with Adofo-Mensah having been fired last week, it could open the door for the Vikings to move on from McCarthy.

We are in for an interesting next six weeks.