As the Minnesota Vikings head toward training camp, the quarterback situation is still hanging out there, but the clock is ticking toward a decision. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport recently said the competition between Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy could go “right up to the start of the season,” though that feels more like a talking point than a real turning point.
Kevin O’Connell knows the starter, whoever that ends up being, needs as many reps as possible with the rest of the first unit during camp. There’s no hard deadline forcing the Vikings to name a winner right this second, but the sooner somebody clearly separates, the better.
McCarthy has already brushed aside any notion that he would want out if he doesn’t land the job. Even so, if he’s not the Week 1 starter, it’s easy to see how he could become a trade candidate. And if Minnesota did move him, the team would be left without a quarterback under contract for 2027.
That possibility is what made a recent prediction from SB Nation’s Jarrett Bailey stand out. In his list of 61 predictions before the 2026 season, Bailey named the Baltimore Ravens as a possible landing spot.
“3. Vikings trade J.J. McCarthy to Ravens
The writing is on the wall for J.J. McCarthy. The Vikings won 14 games with Sam Darnold, didn’t bring him back, and then watched him win a Super Bowl while they limped to a 9-8 record.
McCarthy completed less than 60 percent of his passes with 11 touchdowns to 12 interceptions. He gets dealt to Baltimore and Jesse Minter, who won a National Championship with McCarthy at Michigan as the Wolverines’ defensive coordinator.”
The Ravens make sense in the same way the Los Angeles Chargers do when people start connecting McCarthy to coaches who know him. Jim Harbaugh is the obvious name there. In Baltimore, the link is Jesse Minter, who served as Harbaugh’s defensive coordinator at Michigan during McCarthy’s two seasons as the starting quarterback in 2022 and 2023.
If there’s a coach who could buy into McCarthy’s upside based on firsthand experience, Minter would be near the top of the list. He saw it at the college level, and that connection could matter if McCarthy ever becomes available.
Bailey’s list also included a separate prediction about “mumurs of Lamar Jackson leaving Baltimore” growing louder, with Jackson entering the final year of his contract in 2027 if he does not get an extension. If Baltimore starts thinking ahead to life after Jackson, McCarthy could become a logical name to circle.
And if McCarthy had any say in where he’d want to land, the Ravens might be one of the more appealing options because of that Minter-Michigan tie. From Minnesota’s side, that kind of situation could mean more than just a clean exit - it could bring back a better-than-expected draft pick if Baltimore gets serious.
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