The Minnesota Vikings are moving quickly to settle their quarterback situation for the 2026 NFL season, and J.J. McCarthy is not winning the race. According to NFL insider Adam Schefter, Kyler Murray will open the year as Minnesota’s starting signal-caller.
That call comes after what amounted to a very short competition between Murray and McCarthy, and it sends a pretty direct message from head coach Kevin O’Connell about where the Vikings are headed. Minnesota is not waiting around to make this decision later in the summer. The choice is being made before the team even takes a preseason snap.
For McCarthy, that’s a tough outcome after the Vikings spent heavy draft capital to bring him in just two years ago. The former college football national champion has only had one full year of game action with Minnesota, but O’Connell evidently hasn’t seen enough to fully buy in.
Murray brings his own questions, of course. His NFL resume hasn’t been spotless, but he does give the Vikings a more explosive option at quarterback, especially with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison out wide. That upside appears to be enough for Minnesota to hand him the job now rather than drag the competition deeper into August.
The decision also fits the reality Minnesota is facing. This is a team trying to navigate a loaded NFC North, with the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers all in the mix. It’s not exactly a place where a quarterback battle can linger without consequences.
Murray’s 2019 Offensive Rookie of the Year award is still part of the picture, and his recent training camp surge seems to have carried real weight with O’Connell and the Vikings staff. Even so, the choice feels more like Minnesota settling on the option it trusts most than embracing a perfect answer.
That broader quarterback issue has been hanging around the franchise for a while now. The Vikings have already cut ties with Daniel Jones and Sam Darnold, only to watch both show their worth elsewhere with the Indianapolis Colts and Seattle Seahawks, respectively. Darnold’s Super Bowl title in February only adds another layer to that storyline.
What comes next for McCarthy is unclear after being selected in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. For now, though, the path is set in Minnesota, and Murray is the one taking the first snaps.
The Vikings open their preseason schedule on the road against the New York Giants at 1 p.m. ET Saturday.
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