This offseason has been all about the quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings . After J.J. McCarthy flopped in such a massive and public way last season, Kevin O’Connell couldn’t afford another campaign where so many things go wrong.
Thankfully, veteran Kyler Murray fell into their laps for just $1.3 million, with the Arizona Cardinals paying the freight on his contract. Regardless of how much the suggestion of a competition has been floated, there’s almost no world in which Murray won’t be the starter for Week 1.
Regardless, though, the Minnesota Vikings currently have an overflowing quarterback room. After going into last season needing to add Carson Wentz just before the games started, they are in a much different situation this time around.
Murray has been signed, and Wentz was brought back. He is the most capable backup on the roster, and if (see: when) McCarthy loses the competition, it makes more sense for him to operate as the third quarterback. There is also a developmental product, Max Brosmer .
There is no chance the Vikings carry four quarterbacks on their active roster, and Brosmer can be stashed on the practice squad. However, there are only a finite number of reps to go around. If Brosmer is going to be a long-term down-roster play, then McCarthy seems like the most straightforward player to move on from.
Going into his third professional season, the Vikings will need to decide if they are picking up McCarthy’s fifth-year option next offseason. That’s an expensive proposition for a guy who may have played just 10 games and not shown any consistent results. Minnesota could have traded him prior to or during the NFL Draft , but they may have another opportunity during training camp.
McCarthy is never going to net the value necessary to take him with the 10th overall pick. He could, however, be dangled to a team wanting to use him this year, get some draft compensation, and remove the opportunity that he’s little more than a distraction.
It’s unlikely that O’Connell has the time to develop both McCarthy and Brosmer behind the scenes this season. If Murray works, neither will be necessary in the years to come anyway. Four quarterbacks are a lot of mouths to feed, and whittling that group down isn’t an outlandish suggestion.
