3 Minnesota Vikings could lose their starting jobs during training camp due to multiple factors
The Minnesota Vikings are set to kick off training camp next week, and multiple starters could be out of a job.
The Minnesota Vikings open training camp next week, and several starters should be looking over their shoulders. Position battles emerge every year across the NFL, and Minnesota’s roster is no exception. From the secondary to the backfield to the most important position on the field, the Vikings have 3 players whose starting jobs are far from secure heading into the 2026 season.
Kevin O’Connell’s team saw it firsthand last year when Jalen Redmond earned a starting role and played 793 snaps on his way to becoming the best defensive player on the roster. On the flip side, Ivan Pace Jr. lost his job after Blake Cashman returned from injury. That kind of turnover is the nature of training camp, and it could happen again.
S Theo Jackson
Jackson looked the part during the 2024 training camp, looking like the fourth starter, with Cam Bynum, Josh Metellus, and Harrison Smith leading the three-safety package. He only played about 100 snaps that season, which made sense given the talent ahead of him and Brian Flores’ reluctance to rotate defenders in and out.
When Bynum departed and Jackson stepped into a starting role, it didn’t go the way we expected. He got benched after the Green Bay Packers game and missed 3 weeks with Jay Ward taking over his spot. Jackson returned to the lineup only because the Vikings shut down Metellus for the season after they were eliminated from playoff contention following the Dallas Cowboys game.
Ward is entering year four, and the Vikings are high on him. He profiles as a versatile player who can work in the back end, slide into the box, and blitz. Ward needs to improve his tackling, but that’s the one thing separating him from locking down the starting job. Jackson, a former sixth-round pick out of Tennessee, could easily end up on the bench. Cutting him would only save about $200,000 in cap space, and replacing his roster spot would cost at least $885,000. Unless the Vikings find a trade partner, he’ll likely remain on the roster in a reduced role.
RB Aaron Jones
Jones has been the starting running back for two years, but the drop-off from 2024 to 2025 was significant. He played 17 games in 2024 but dealt with in-game injuries that cost him multiple quarters. In 2025, he appeared in only 12 games, totaling 132 carries for 548 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The efficiency numbers tell the story. Jones forced only 12 missed tackles on those 132 carries. Compare that to 2024, when he forced 46 missed tackles on 268 carries. On double the carries, he generated nearly 4 times the missed tackles forced. That’s a troubling trajectory.
The Vikings brought Jones back only because he was cheap, taking about a $3.5 million pay cut. The logic was straightforward: finding a replacement with the around $7 million saved wasn’t realistic, and Jones likely calculated that $5.5 million in cash was worth sticking around rather than testing the market.
With Frank Smith helping to install a heavier wide zone scheme, Jordan Mason profiles as the lead back. Mason has proven he can attack wide zone concepts, and Jones could settle into a rotational role. At this stage of his career, that’s a reasonable outcome.
QB J.J. McCarthy
This is the biggest storyline of training camp. J.J. McCarthy was the 10th overall pick, but his 2025 season exposed severe limitations. Those limitations played a major role in the Vikings missing the playoffs.
The popular narrative centers on McCarthy’s final stretch of games, but the semantics matter. It was four games, not five. Including a fifth game means counting Max Brosmer’s win against the Detroit Lions on Christmas Day or his disastrous performance at Lambeau Field, where he suffered a concussion. Within those final 4 starts, the Vikings had to shrink the playbook and work around McCarthy’s poor mechanics against 4 of the worst defenses in football. None of those opponents ranked higher than roughly the 14th-best defense.
Murray brings NFL accomplishments and a higher talent ceiling. With general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah out of the building, there’s no scapegoat left. It’s all on O’Connell now, and the arrival of new general manager Nolan Teasley adds another layer of pressure. The Cardinals made a similar call in 2018 when they moved on from Josh Rosen after 14 games, and the Vikings appear to be trending in that direction based on what has been reported and observed throughout the summer.
