Aaron Rodgers has yet to make his final decision for the 2025 season, but it appears his preferred choice of signing with the Vikings will not come to fruition. Minnesota will still likely be in the market for a veteran passer even with J.J. McCarthy currently atop the depth chart, though. 
The No. 10 pick in last year’s draft missed his entire rookie campaign due to a meniscus tear, but his rehab has gone well. McCarthy went as far as to say during his recent Up And Adams appearance that he is 100% healthy (video link). As a result, he is positioned to handle a heavy workload during the spring in anticipation of training camp and the 2025 campaign.
With Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones each departing in free agency, though, Minnesota needs to add at least one depth passer. Only McCarthy and Brett Rypien are on the roster as things stand, a factor which helps explain the fact Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has not fully closed the door to a Rodgers signing. The four-time MVP continues to be linked most closely with the Steelers, and an agreement on that front would leave Minnesota with a short list of veteran signal-callers to choose from.
“At every checkpoint, whether it been the draft process or practice until the injury and really the offseason now, he’s met the bar,” Adofo-Mensah said when speaking about McCarthy’s rehab and development (via ESPN’s Kevin Seifert). “He’s exceeded our expectations at every point. So I don’t have the ability to tell you what the future is, but I can tell you what I expect to be the outcome this offseason from the competition.
“But it’s also our job to set up a quarterback room that’s going to have to… provide insurance in case somebody needs to come in for a couple of games. And that’s our job as a personnel department to look at all the options out there and make sure we’re setting ourselves up for the best case we can.”
Adofo-Mensah added the Vikings could wait until after the draft before making any moves under center. Free agents signed past April 29 do not count against the compensatory pick formula, and as such movement could pick up after that date. Veterans like Joe Flacco, Carson Wentz and Drew Lock are unsigned at this point; if that remains the case after the draft – by which point Rodgers’ future will likely be clear – Minnesota could pursue one of them as McCarthy insurance.
The Vikings sport an offense with an upgraded O-line, a skill-position group led by wideout Justin Jefferson and reigning Coach of the Year Kevin O’Connell. Expectations will be high for the unit regardless of who is in place as quarterback for 2025, and McCarthy remains on track to handle those duties without serious offseason competition.
They’re putting a lot on the shoulders of somebody who has barely played and is coming off a serious injury.
It was a small sample size, but McCarthy seemed to handle the position very well in preseason last year. The plan was for Darnold to be the backup last year, I think they again will bring in a serviceable veteran back up before training camp starts.
I don’t think you can draw up a better plan than seeing what you have at QB with McCarthy for the Vikings.
Are you advocating that a Darold re-sign was the best play? A Winston or Wilson or Rodgers while the answer may be on your bench on a rookie contract?
Excellent plan. They have done much better than expected so far. 13 & 4, 14 & 3 out of 3 years.
I mean a guy who has barely played has to play at some point in order to play lmao The lack of playtime is no different than any other rookie QB
Which is why teams don’t expect much of rookies.
Wdym? Teams regularly expect rookie QBs to literally save the franchise and their jobs
If they’re a terrible franchise, sure.
Flacco would be a nice add. If he had to step in, with that line and those WRs, he could play well.
They need somebody like that. Kid already went down once so a viable backup is essential. Rodgers only wants to start. Flacco, could possibly work- at least in a short term situation.
Minchew also …
My bad … already signed with the Chiefs … totally agree on Flacco.
Let our qb guru work his magic wirh another ex 1st round pick, Tre Lance. He has more upside than Drew Lock or any old timer
Lance or Wentz, are both 1st round picks that could be good Pick ups.
Wentz is 32, hasn’t been good in years, and has left several organizations disliking him. I don’t think 1st round pick is what defines him anymore.
Wentz hasn’t been a starter for years. So its eqsy to not br good when tkure not playing. If healthy, he’s better than most FA QBs out there now, and certainly better than that Jets FA pickup.
Lmao please. He absolutely is not. If you think Wentz has more upside and a chance to have a better season-long run than Fields in the year 2025, I don’t think you’ve seen either play football recently.
Fields struggles to throw 200 yards per game. Have you seen that? That’s most of his games. Wentz doesnt. Pretty simple.
Throwing for 200 yards is your only barometer for identifying quality QBs?
Wentz’s last 3 years of starting in the league led to a lower completion percentage, Y/A, AY/A, Y/C, QBR, and QB ratings than Fields’ last 3 years starting, plus Fields comes with the added bonus of being able to make plays with his legs and being 26 instead of 32. So yeah, you’re right, it is pretty simple… except it’s pretty simple that Fields is clearly the better bet in 2025 to anyone who watches the NFL. Or has eyes.
When you cherry pick a single stat but ignore the rest that point to the other player being better, it creates a very misguided narrative. Wentz isn’t even a top 3 unsigned QB.
That’s a big stat to cherry pick. Fields cant see his WRs and throw the ball. Wentz can. That’s a little important in playing QB. Maybe you didn’t see Fields take sacks, get lost, and not be able to drive the offense down the field. Maybe you didn’t see him get benched for Wilson? Now he has a rookie DC minded HC and a 1st year OC in NYJ. Lol good luck! But he can run, so what, that doesn’t win games. Wentz had a really bad OL in WASH (did you watch those games, I did) and bad ankles in INDY. He may not be a star but he certainly has proven he can play QB much better than Fields.
1) If Fields can’t see his WRs/throw the ball, why did he have a better 3 year average for completion %, yards per attempt, air yards per attempt, and yards per completion than Wentz? That literally tells us Fields is more accurate and can push the ball down the field better than Wentz at this point. Stats don’t lie, especially in a 3 year sample.
2) Over that 3 year sample, Wentz took 108 sacks in 36 games; Fields took 115 in 34 games. Both of them have an issue with taking sacks. That’s slightly more than 1/4 of a sack per game difference. Yes, it’s a problem Fields has, but let’s not act like Wentz doesn’t have that problem. He became a statue and isn’t going to be more agile 3 years later.
3) You mean the benching that caused locker room discord and disagreement among the coaching staff, which also proved to be a bad decision when PIT went on that losing streak to end the season? Remind me, which of the two free agent QBs did they pursue and try to re-sign? Oh, right, Fields.
4) You’re going off of the eye test way too much and it doesn’t seem to work. Wentz had top 10 statistical OLs in both Washington and Indy!! Go look at their adjusted pass blocking rates for 2020. Oh, and by the way, care to guess if Fields ever had a top 10 rated OL in Chicago or Pittsburgh?
5) Yes, Wentz was better than Fields in his prime (2017-2019). We are six years removed from that. You don’t sign players based on the past, so having proven “that he can play QB much better than Fields” means nothing. Troy Aikman proved he can play the position better than Fields. Let’s bring him and his 20 concussions back! Maybe Joe Montana, too!
6) This isn’t me stumping for Fields, it’s just wild to think Wentz has ANYTHING left in the tank. He was atrocious in his 1 start last season if you want to go off small sample sizes. Did you see how quick KC was to upgrade their backup? And not just to Minshew, to Minshew AND Zappe. They realized they’d be screwed if Mahomes got hurt and they had to turn to Wentz. He was so bad that they began to panic and decided they even needed a viable backup to the backup!
Wentz’s days are numbered in the NFL. I wouldn’t be the least bit shocked if he goes unsigned. Rodgers, Flacco, Tannehill, Lock, and Huntley all stand as better FA options. Hell, Ridder has more upside because if a team is going to sign a bad passer, they might as well sign a guy who can move.
When your QB struggles to throw 200 yards, it’s a problem. And if you watched Fields play, he can’t see past WR1. Which is why he can’t throw for 200 yards. His OL doesn’t know where he scrambles to and can’t protect him.
Wentz in WASH 2022 had a really bad OL. Not sure what stats you’re looking at. Wentz made 1 start LY with all backups and a vanilla scheme against a team who needed to win to get into the playoffs. Big deal.
And PITTS didn’t re-sign Fields so there’s that. Period. They didn’t want him.
I’m not stumping for Wentz, but he’s shown he can play QB1. Fields hasn’t.
Yet he still has better passing numbers than Wentz. He has a greater completion %, has a further avg depth of target, more yards per completion, so that tells you something very obvious: Wentz threw the ball a lot more and less successfully, so make it make sense how Wentz would be better in 2025.
I’m looking at Sharp Football Analysis, which is a lot smarter at analyzing OL play than either you or me. PFF agrees with their assessment. I’m going to trust them over your eyes LOL.
Pittsburgh wanted to re-sign Fields. I will believe the national media and local media reports over you because you don’t have insider knowledge.
And now you’re not being honest. You absolutely were stumping for Wentz. Copied and pasted exactly what you said:
“If healthy, he’s better than most FA QBs out there now, and certainly better than that Jets FA pickup.” That’s 100% stumping for Wentz. You’re suggesting he’s starter-level. He’s not.
You’re out here just making things up even. Stats, facts, and information shared by knowledgeable people are all more usetul than your opinions. I’m providing all 3 of those but you keep ignoring them in favor of anything that doesn’t support your BS narrative.
I don’t think developing a raw prospect from elsewhere is the priority for a running mate for McCarthy. A stable veteran makes more sense than prioritizing upside.
McCarthy will be traded during the draft and Rodgers will be signed.
lol
Time for the Vikings to start searching the CFL for another Joe Kapp.
Hey don’t forget, Noone wanted Sam Darnold before last season.
I think that’s exactly the type they’ll look for, and I think I know who fits that mold & is still available. They’ll sign Drew Lock as insurance. The talent is there, it’ll just take the right coach to get it out of him. Kevin O’Connell will be seen as a QB guru if he can pull that off twice, but it’ll only be necessary if J.J. isn’t ready or is re-injured.
Not entirely true. Panthers traded for him and started him, and the 49ers signed him as a backup.
McConnel was Coach of he Year in part because his team exceeded expectations with Darnold under center…he’s taking a big chance with a QB coming off a major injury (which Darnold did not) but of course who knows better than the HC in this case (no sarcasm intended there). Still don’t see this kid leading that offense without a safety net of some competency behind him and that indeed may be Rogers…..
Exactly what I’m saying. Not only is he coming off of not playing any football for an entire season as a ROOKIE but doing so coming off an injury.
That means that not only will it take some time to shake off the rust, he also still has to go through all of the struggles rookies go through when making the jump to NFL football and do so after not playing for an entire year!
The expectations should be extremely low for him yet Minnesota is talking like he’s been their starter for years and putting way too much pressure on him.
Hopefully they can do better than Drew Lock.