{"id":466446,"date":"2026-02-13T14:58:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T14:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/466446\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T14:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T14:58:14","slug":"vikings-trying-to-swing-big-at-qb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/466446\/","title":{"rendered":"Vikings Trying to Swing Big at QB"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"MinnesotaCredit: Sam Greene via Imagn Content Services, LLC\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The Minnesota Vikings will not have as many solid quarterback options to choose from this offseason, to pair with JJ McCarthy, vs what they did this time last year.<\/p>\n

What they do have this time around, that was lacking in February\/March 2025, is an increased sense of urgency<\/a> to secure a veteran quarterback who can play the position competently, should JJ prove he\u2019s not ready.<\/p>\n

Last offseason, the Minnesota Vikings rode all the way into the 2025 NFL Draft without a legitimate backup plan for their redshirt rookie, before they finally traded for Sam Howell. It\u2019s safe to assume they will not want to<\/a> test that plan again.<\/p>\n

\"KevinCredit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Their lack of QB motivation<\/a> early on last offseason led fans and media members to believe McCarthy was further along in his development than he actually was. This time around, we know what McCarthy is, at least to this point in his career. And for now, \u201cNine\u201d is not good enough to pin the 2026 season on.<\/p>\n

Thus, the Vikings have made it extremely clear<\/a> that they will not pass up an opportunity to upgrade their QB room dramatically, should the right one present itself. In fact, the question isn\u2019t really about \u201cif\u201d, or even \u201cwhen\u201d Minnesota will get their new QB.<\/p>\n

Minnesota Vikings definitely want to swing big at quarterback<\/p>\n

Instead, it\u2019s just a matter of which quarterback they land. Will the Vikings bring in competition<\/a> for McCarthy OR will they go big<\/a> on a new QB that immediately cements in as the franchise\u2019s quarterback of the present and future?<\/p>\n

Well from the sounds of it, the Kevin O\u2019Connell and those who matter most at TCO Performance Center would prefer the latter. According to what Alec Lewis<\/a> wrote today<\/a> at The Athletic \u2014 in a national piece that listed the biggest need for every NFL team \u2014 the Vikings will look to swing big first, then react from there.<\/p>\n

Minnesota Vikings<\/p>\n

Quarterback:\u00a0A quarterback to pair with J.J. McCarthy, at a bare minimum. Head coach and play caller Kevin O\u2019Connell is entering his fifth season. The Vikings haven\u2019t won a playoff game during that time. Constructing a quarterback room that gives Minnesota the best chance at going deeper is the primary focus. Nothing is off the table here. The Vikings may try to swing big at the position. If they can\u2019t, they will find themselves in a similar situation to last spring. Will the Vikings guarantee the starting spot to a potential QB candidate? If not, what type of QB will they really be able to acquire?<\/p>\n

Alec Lewis \u2013 The Athletic<\/a><\/p>\n

If they get a chance to swing big, that\u2019s what they want to do. That was supported earlier this week when a report dropped at ESPN<\/a> noting that, when it comes to their QB search, \u201call bets are off\u201d.<\/p>\n

Vikings will settle for JJ McCarthy competition\u2026 but they clearly want more<\/p>\n

Standing by themselves, these hypothetical reports don\u2019t tell us all that much. Sure, the Vikings would love to get their hands on Joe Burrow<\/a>, but if Joe Cool never comes available or Minnesota isn\u2019t willing to pony up what it takes to pique Cincinnati\u2019s interest, then who cares, right?<\/p>\n

Related: Aaron Rodgers Still on MN Vikings Radar<\/a><\/p>\n

But these insider reports are starting to pile up both locally and nationally. Meanwhile, we are inching dangerously close to the start of the NFL combine next weekend \u2014 where NFL teams gauge the rest of the league and really start to set their plans for the offseason<\/p>\n

If the Minnesota Vikings did their early due diligence on quarterbacks this offseason, just to find out that they really had no avenue to swing big on a QB, you\u2019d think that these kinds of reports would be dying off\u2026 not heating up.<\/p>\n

In other words, the next couple months could be fun\u2026<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned in this article: J.J. McCarthy<\/a> NFL Offseason<\/a> <\/p>\n

More About:Minnesota Vikings<\/a><\/p>\n

Add MinnesotaSportsFan as a preferred source on Google.\"Add<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Credit: Sam Greene via Imagn Content Services, LLC The Minnesota Vikings will not have as many solid quarterback…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[6343,349,217016,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-466446","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-j-j-mccarthy","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-nfl-offseason","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}