Kyler Murray officially won the Minnesota Vikings starting quarterback position on Tuesday, August 11. That has led many to speculate about what’ll come next for JJ McCarthy, whom the team selected with the tenth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Some believe McCarthy can follow in the footsteps of Bryce Young, who bounced back strong after getting benched early in his second season. They’re holding out hope that he can still be a future franchise quarterback in Minnesota. McCarthy claims to want the same.
“This is the place I want to be,” McCarthy said. “And I love every single person in this building. I love the state. I love the fanbase. And I’m going to continue to just do whatever I can for this team and this organization.”
However, reading the tea leaves, most think the more likely outcome at this point is shipping McCarthy out of town. ESPN’s Kevin Seifert is firmly stationed in that camp.
“If the Vikings had deep conviction about McCarthy’s future, they wouldn’t have felt compelled to sign Murray and would have given McCarthy more than 10 starts to develop.” Seifert wrote.
Obviously, they would receive pennies on the dollar for the initial draft investment they made in him if they went that route.
NFL insider Jason La Canfora spoke to an executive who thinks the Eagles would make sense as a potential suitor in the 2024 first-round selection. He specifically mentioned that they could swoop in as a “potential bargain-bin buyer” and mentioned their general manager Howie Roseman looking into developmental QBs ahead of the supplemental draft.
The Eagles Have Seen This Script Before, And It Worked In Their Favor
As much as Cowboys fans would use McCarthy joining the squad as ammunition to sling insults towards Jalen Hurts, McCarthy obviously wouldn’t create a QB controversy in Philly. Hurts has limitations, but he still brought the Eagles to the Super Bowl two years ago. You could also remove the Super Bowl MVP from his resume, and he’s still light-years ahead of McCarthy right now.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were in a similar position with Kenny Pickett two years ago. The former first-round pick fell well short of expectations through his first two years, so they signed a capable starter in Russell Wilson in the offseason. At that point, Pickett requested a trade and joined Philadelphia. The Eagles only had to give up two seventh-round selections in the 2025 NFL Draft (the next offseason) and move down from the third (pick 98) to the fourth round (pick 120).
Pickett won the only game that he started for the Eagles in 2024 (and he also played well in that contest), and they traded him for a fifth-round pick and another developmental QB, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, the following offseason.
While it remains unclear whether they’d intend to follow the same path with McCarthy, it feels safe to assume they’d be betting on the recent success of players who took a bit longer to reach their potential as a trend.
What Would A JJ McCarthy Trade Look Like?
The timing of a trade would decide how much of a bargain it would be. If the Vikings can remain patient (which they should be able to do since he seemingly isn’t causing a distraction), they would maximize the odds that someone would come calling and be willing to give up a bit more. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio thinks that’s the much smarter route of action for Minnesota.
“The more likely outcome is that McCarthy and the Vikings will wait for a potential opportunity arising from an injury before the Tuesday after Week 9. If it never comes, McCarthy could remain in Minnesota for the full season, waiting for a chance to play if Murray is injured.” Florio wrote.
Based on how little McCarthy has shown through his first two seasons, the Vikings probably wouldn’t receive much in return for him if they dealt him now. It would be surprising to see them land anything higher than a fifth-round selection.
So, assuming the investment they made in him and the fact that Murray also isn’t a sure thing, you’d have to think that would be a non-starter for Minnesota unless he were to become a distraction, whether it be internally or externally. However, he would become an interesting trade candidate the second another starter were to get hurt.
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