The Minnesota Vikings are putting together a formidable enough roster to have high expectations for the 2025 NFL season. How they fare will likely depend on their quarterback play.
Our reporting from the last week has yielded plenty of conversations about Minnesota’s plan. As of Thursday evening, the Vikings had yet to add another veteran quarterback to their roster.
Let’s examine how the Vikings got here and what it means moving forward.
Why were the Vikings considering Aaron Rodgers?
Rodgers views the Vikings as a premier destination, and Minnesota’s quarterback room is incomplete.
After a 14-win regular season came to an unceremonious end with a first-round playoff rout, the Vikings initially targeted Daniel Jones to be the veteran presence in the QB room with 22-year-old first-round pick J.J. McCarthy, who missed his entire rookie season with a torn meniscus in his right knee. Minnesota pitched Jones on an open competition for the starting job in the event that Sam Darnold departed for another opportunity.
But Jones preferred the chance to compete for the Indianapolis Colts’ starting job. Fellow veteran Nick Mullens also exited, for Jacksonville, which now employs former Kevin O’Connell confidant and assistant quarterbacks coach Grant Udinski as its offensive coordinator. Those departures left Minnesota with only Brett Rypien behind McCarthy, and that’s when the potential of adding Rodgers became more of a consideration in the Vikings’ building.
O’Connell and Rodgers have known each other for over a decade. Both played quarterback in college on the West Coast in the early 2000s. They met and have stayed connected over the years.
Once O’Connell learned of Rodgers’ interest, executives and coaches evaluated Rodgers’ film from the 2024 season late into the night. Staffers spoke with one another for hours about all of the dynamics: how McCarthy would feel about the move, how Rodgers would fit into the Vikings’ culture, what the optics would look like and how O’Connell would blend his schematic philosophies with Rodgers’ preferences.
Many within the building supported the idea of adding Rodgers, thinking he could still operate at a high level, especially in the pocket. Some saw a roster built to win for 2025 and McCarthy, a second-year player emerging from a knee injury with only one preseason game under his belt, as a less-than-certain option.
Where does J.J. McCarthy’s development stand right now?
The last time O’Connell publicly discussed McCarthy’s status was in January.
When asked if McCarthy would be the starter in 2025, the coach said, “I’m very excited about where J.J. is at. Him being able to absorb (a lot of the offense this past year) and now have a really positive offseason from start to finish here will be able to answer that question (about whether or not he’ll be the starter) as well as what that quarterback room looks like as a whole.”
O’Connell wouldn’t go as far as explicitly naming McCarthy the starter, which is not unexpected for a January news conference. However, the Vikings’ moves in the last couple of months indicate they strongly believe in McCarthy’s trajectory. Not franchise-tagging Darnold was a choice. Deciding not to pay more than the Colts were willing to for Jones was a choice. Considering Rodgers and then backing McCarthy, at least for now, was a choice.
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said in January that McCarthy had returned to on-field action. McCarthy spent the early months of 2025 in Minnesota, so the Vikings continued to monitor his progress.
What does the decision not to sign Rodgers so far say about McCarthy?
Minnesota is comfortable enough with McCarthy to risk Rodgers signing with the New York Giants or Pittsburgh Steelers — or simply retiring.
Beginning in 2022, the Vikings’ key decision-makers have felt their best path to a Super Bowl was selecting a quarterback near the top of the draft and pairing that quarterback’s rookie contract with additions (thanks to the extra salary-cap space) everywhere else. O’Connell personally structured the team’s plan to evaluate the quarterbacks in the 2024 draft class last spring. He interviewed them. The Vikings flew to work out many of them privately.
Before the 2024 draft, O’Connell even admitted he was known as “the quarterback killer” inside the Vikings’ building because he’d previously fought off “mistakes from being made, mainly because of the evaluation process (he went) through.” Minnesota acquired an extra first-round pick before the draft and communicated with the New England Patriots about the No. 3 pick. Once Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye and Michael Penix Jr. were plucked, the Vikings moved up a spot to No. 10 and drafted McCarthy.
“I’m really happy with the way it all came together,” O’Connell said on draft night.
McCarthy had been checking boxes last fall before he tore his meniscus. His mechanics looked smoother than they had in the spring. He executed consistently in a preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders, and the Vikings staff was preparing to give him more first-team reps at joint practices in Cleveland. But then the injury surfaced, and his season ended in a flash. He underwent an initial surgery in August, then another procedure in November to alleviate swelling, O’Connell said.
Committing to McCarthy now comes with risk, but the Vikings’ actions cement their belief that the risk has not yet risen to the level of needing to make a move. They could have been more aggressive in trying to keep Darnold. They could have offered Jones a more handsome contract. They could have signed Rodgers. But they didn’t. And they haven’t.
What does this mean going forward?
The Vikings are looking for a big spring and summer from McCarthy.
Offseason workouts begin April 7, and he will have the opportunity to show the Vikings what they hope to see. His physical condition matters. His command of O’Connell’s offense is important, too. So much of what the Vikings want the 2025 season to be hinges on McCarthy’s readiness and ability to assert himself as the leader of a team with high expectations.
In the meantime, the Vikings could pursue another backup. Multiple options are at play. The Vikings could sign a veteran such as Joe Flacco or Ryan Tannehill. They could also trade for a younger player such as Seattle’s Sam Howell or Las Vegas’ Aidan O’Connell.
Until Rodgers signs with a team or retires, the prospect of him in Minnesota cannot be ruled out. McCarthy could suffer a setback with his knee, or the Vikings could come to the realization that he needs more development time. We’ll have to wait to see.