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The Minnesota Vikings have an uncertain situation at quarterback, and it’s led to some wild predictions on who will stay and who will go.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell stoked the fire a bit this week at NFL Honors, praising current starter Sam Darnold while not ruling out his return for 2025 and beyond. That came after phenom prospect J.J. McCarthy stated his desire for a fair QB competition entering the new league year.
Uncertainty breeds speculation, and Marissa Myers of The Wright Way Network recently posted a wild trade prediction between the Vikings and San Francisco 49ers, swapping McCarthy for star quarterback Brock Purdy.
Here was her take on what would be a mind-blowing blockbuster this offseason:
After drafting JJ McCarthy in the 2024 NFL Draft, it seemed as though he was going to be the future. After suffering a torn meniscus in his knee, McCarthy has missed his entire rookie season, allowing Darnold to step up and take over. With how Darnold has commanded the support of the locker room, and having the experience factor, it would be ideal for the Vikings to bring him back. For McCarthy, they can trade him and get immense return value. While it may not appear to make sense to trade McCarthy, he is coming off a knee injury, and how he plays after it isn’t known. This added on to the rookie learning curve that he missed during his actual rookie season will complicate things and only lead to him needing more time to be ready to fully start. The Vikings, in a competitive NFC North, don’t have the time to waste.
With Purdy he would provide the stabilizing play for the season that the Vikings need to have a starting caliber quarterback in case they can’t re-sign Darnold in free agency.
Again, this is a wild hypothetical that would never happen.
The Vikings should have zero desire to move McCarthy, even if Darnold does return to the team on either a new multi-year contract or franchise tag.
Having two solid options at the most important position in sports would be a good problem to have. With McCarthy coming off the knee injury, it would be ideal to have Darnold pick up where he left off in 2025, while McCarthy continues to develop and compete on the side.
As for the Purdy proposal, his contract would be an unavoidable hurdle. He’s entering the final year of his modest rookie deal, and Spotrac projects his market value to be $59.7 million in average annual value on an extension. The Vikings would be trading a better prospect on an extremely team-friendly rookie contract, for an older player they would have to pay through the nose to keep upon his arrival.
Obviously, the Vikings would never trade McCarthy for Purdy. The real question here is whether they would consider trading McCarthy at all, and the answer should be a resounding no.
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