This season, the Minnesota Vikings finished the regular season with a 9-8 record despite inconsistent and poor play from J.J. McCarthy.
Just one year prior, the team finished with a 14-3 record. Now, they’re seen as a potential suitor for a 109-touchdown free agent quarterback.
Minnesota Vikings Seen as Landing Spot for AFC South Quarterback
With the 10th overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Vikings selected McCarthy from the University of Michigan, who just won the National Championship a few months prior.
There was a lot of anticipation around McCarthy, who was replacing former Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, who left for the Atlanta Falcons. However, McCarthy suffered a season-ending injury in the preseason and would have to wait a year to make his regular-season debut.
After his first full season, you could say that the Vikings now have more questions regarding their quarterback position than actual answers.
In his first full season, McCarthy threw for 1,632 passing yards, 11 passing touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and completed 57.6% of passing attempts. He was much more effective as a rusher, considering he carried the ball 37 times for 181 yards and 4 touchdowns. In PFSN’s NFL Quarterback Impact Metric (QBi), he ranked 37th in the league with an impact score of 64.5 and a letter grade of D.
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Despite it being his first full season, McCarthy did not look as advertised. As a result, they’ve been linked to several veteran quarterbacks to come in and compete for the starting quarterback job.
CBS Sports’ Zachary Pereles lists the Vikings as a potential suitor to land one of the biggest free agent quarterbacks in this class. Here’s what he writes:
“The Colts are all the way in on Jones, especially after they traded away two first-round picks for Sauce Gardner at the trade deadline. He’s coming off a torn Achilles, but expect Indianapolis to figure something out. Other suitors: Cardinals, Vikings.”
Daniel Jones was on the Vikings roster in 2024 behind Sam Darnold, so he already has ties to the team. Despite it looking like he’ll go back to the Indianapolis Colts, he’d undoubtedly come in, compete, and potentially elevate the Vikings’ offense.
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In his career, Jones has completed 64.7% of passes for 17,683 passing yards, 89 touchdowns, 55 interceptions, and has been sacked 230 times. He’s a very effective rusher, carrying the ball 444 times for 2,343 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns.
Jones struggled a lot with the New York Giants, but proved that he’d improved a lot since then during his time with the Colts. This season, he completed 68.0% of passes for 3,101 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions. As a rusher, he ran for 164 yards and 5 touchdowns. In PFSN’s QBI, he ranked as the fifth-best quarterback with an impact score of 86.7 and a letter grade of B.
