NFL GM: I Don’t Think J.J. McCarthy Stays With Vikings All Season

The Vikings announced Tuesday that QB Kyler Murray has won the competition for the starting job against QB J.J. McCarthy. It’s not an unexpected outcome but it does still bring up questions about the next step for McCarthy’s career and whether it will be in Minnesota. 

Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell addressed reporters and said McCarthy will be the primary backup to Murray, via Kevin Seifert, and ahead of veteran QB Carson Wentz on the depth chart. He also said he still believes McCarthy has a future with Minnesota. 

“As he knows, he’s holding the pen on his story and we’re going to support him and try to just help him continue to improve as a young player in the most difficult position in sports,” he said via Seifert.

However, there’s a sense around the league that this could be the end for McCarthy in Minnesota. One GM told Jason La Canfora he expected the Vikings to trade McCarthy. 

“They knew they couldn’t bring him back as the starter and keep that locker room together,” the GM said this offseason. “I don’t think he’ll be there through the end of the season.”

La Canfora characterizes it as an “open secret” around the league that the Vikings signed Murray to replace McCarthy, not compete with him, even though O’Connell insisted to reporters all summer this was a true and open competition. 

“This was all O’Connell — he was all-in on Kyler,” an agent who represented another top free-agent quarterback told La Canfora.

“It just wasn’t a good fit,” said one team source about McCarthy last year. “It was pretty bad behind the scenes.”

Tyler Dunne notes in a wide-ranging, two-part series that McCarthy had moments last year when he was difficult to coach. Alec Lewis wrote it was well-known around the league that McCarthy’s poor play in 2025 wore on O’Connell and the staff. 

O’Connell’s relationship with McCarthy has been under the microscope, with rumors persisting that former GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was more invested in the pick than O’Connell, something the coach actually addressed specifically at one point this month. 

Murray is only under contract for this season and has a no-tag clause, while McCarthy has one more year left on his rookie deal in 2027. If the Vikings traded McCarthy, they would get back dramatically less than the top-10 pick they invested to draft him, perhaps a fourth-rounder or less. 

It’s also possible that McCarthy could push for a trade and a fresh start, which is another wrinkle to consider in this situation. Lewis wrote that the Vikings value a positive environment in the quarterback room, which doesn’t seem like a description that fits the current dynamic with Murray and McCarthy. 

McCarthy, 23, led Michigan to a national championship in 2023 and was named first-team All-Big Ten. The Vikings used the No. 10 overall pick in the 2024 draft on McCarthy. 

He signed a four-year, $21,854,796 contract that included a $12,714,396 signing bonus and a fifth-year option for the team to pick up in 2028. 

In 2025, McCarthy appeared in 10 games for the Vikings and completed 57.6 percent of his passes for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He also rushed for 181 yards and four touchdowns.

We’ll have more on McCarthy as the news is available.