The Minnesota Vikings had one of the only potential QB openings in the NFL when the free agency period officially started. This was due to QB J.J. McCarthy’s very worrisome first season playing in the NFL.
Instead of meeting their playoff expectations, the Vikings completely missed that goal, and McCarthy did not come close to being ready for the NFL.
Robert Griffin III Urges Vikings to Trade J.J. McCarthy After Kyler Murray Signing
Due to that potential QB opening, the Vikings were open to exploring their options this offseason, and the perfect one showed up. Former Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray was released by the team, and could be signed on a minimum deal. This is what the Vikings did, and now, they have an upgrade over McCarthy’s current level.
The reason I am bringing up where McCarthy is at this time in his career is that the 23-year-old QB is still young and developing.
Letting him sit and develop for when Murray leaves after this season is one direction the Vikings could take, but the other is trading away McCarthy, which is what former first-round QB Robert Griffin III believes should happen.
“Because they brought in Kyler Murray, it makes me feel like the Minnesota Vikings should trade J.J. McCarthy, to give him an opportunity to grow somewhere, and learn somewhere, and develop without the pressure of playing right away.”
Griffin III’s idea of trading away McCarthy has the same motivation: a focus on development over playing. Later in the video, he listed potential destinations, such as the Green Bay Packers and the Los Angeles Rams.
The Minnesota Vikings need to trade JJ McCarthy after signing Kyler Murray. pic.twitter.com/9iBj2Jvwoq
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) March 17, 2026
The reason behind those places was that McCarthy would be able to sit behind proven QBs (Jordan Love and Matthew Stafford).
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Also, especially with the Packers, they just had success with Malik Willis, who was paid well in free agency to be a starting QB.
The Vikings have to make a decision on McCarthy, and right now, there are two choices:
- Keep him, believe in his future even though he really struggled (was ranked 37th in PFSN’s QB Impact Metric), and let him develop for a year behind Murray.
2. Trade McCarthy away for assets now, and just go in a new direction.
The long-term benefit for McCarthy would probably come from him being traded away, sitting behind a QB for at least a year, and having a new coaching staff that believes in him more. But is that the best move for the Vikings?
