The Minnesota Vikings haven’t completely shut the door on potentially signing Aaron Rodgers in 2025. Although the team appears ready to move forward with J.J. McCarthy as their starter, there is still speculation that the Vikings could sign the future Hall of Famer at some point this off-season.
“It’s unlikely the Vikings will publicly dismiss the idea of signing Rodgers,” Ben Goessling of The Star Tribune wrote this week. “The four-QB saga of 2023 is a reminder why they’ll never say never.”
No one could have foreseen the Vikings going through four quarterbacks in 2023. Kirk Cousins had never missed a start due to injury in his first five seasons with the Vikings. Once he and Nick Mullens were out, Minnesota hastily added Josh Dobbs, who came off the bench for injured rookie Jaren Hall against the Atlanta Falcons. When Dobbs’ magic wore out, the Vikings then started Mullens. They then went back to Hall in Week 17, which was a significant mistake, before returning to Mullens again for the season finale.
Keeping Rodgers in their back pocket in case of emergency can’t hurt. The Vikings have seen that even the unthinkable can potentially come to fruition. The other emergency situation will arise if McCarthy is so bad in camp the Vikings believe even a 41-year-old Rodgers can be an upgrade at the end of his career.
“The one scenario that might still lead Rodgers to Minnesota is if he came on a team-friendly deal, with the understanding McCarthy would get to compete for the starting job,” Goessling continued. “The idea that a quarterback of Rodgers’ pedigree would accept such an arrangement seems particularly far-fetched.”
Goessling is wise in being skeptical of this scenario. Rodgers has played at a high level for too long to accept a job where he’d be fighting for the starting spot. Even if he were to entertain such a deal, would Kevin O’Connell risk the potential distraction it could bring to McCarthy in the short and long term?
The Vikings won’t shut the door on Rodgers, as they have become a safe haven for quarterbacks since O’Connell arrived. But a lot would have to go wrong for the Vikings to seriously consider adding Rodgers to their roster in 2025.