A week after signing Kyler Murray to a one-year contract at a little over a million dollars with the Arizona Cardinals still paying the rest of his $36 million guaranteed contract it should come at no surprise the Carson Wentz re-signed with the Vikings as well. All of these moves are not about definitively stating who the starting quarterback will be in 2026, it is about having insurance with experience to go along with the potential that J.J. McCarthy has. Nothing more, nothing less.
Regarding the quarterback competition, most pundits believe Kyler Murray is the favorite to win the starting job and the finger is on the scale already for him. I don’t exactly agree with that. I think J.J. has a better shot to win the job than most in the media do. I will use the example of nobody thinking Max Brosmer would be the Vikings’ third QB this year, but he was just simply better than Brett Rypien at training camp last August.
Having this deep quarterback room is simply about depth and insurance. In Kevin O’Connell’s first four years as the head coach in Minnesota, he has made the playoffs twice with quarterbacks who started every regular-season game: Kirk Cousins in 2022 and Sam Darnold. in 2024. When the Vikings have missed the postseason he was dealing with injuries to the starter, and players who were either too young and unprepared or unfit for the job. Having to throw rooke Jaren Hall in too early in 2023, picking up Josh Dobbs in midseason trade, and Nick Mullens constantly throwing the ball to other teams, keeping the Vikings out of the postseason after Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles tendon. This past season McCarthy and Wentz got hurt early and often, creating a mess when Brosmer had to play against the league’s best defense in Seattle.
Having Murray, Wentz and McCarthy in the same quarterback room doesn’t guarantee who will be the starter or if they are giving up on J.J. It is simply about having depth and insurance if one, or two of the guys get injured or don’t play well. Viking fans shouldn’t read anything more into it than that.
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