The Minnesota Vikings have settled on Kyler Murray as their starter, and that decision has J.J. McCarthy back in the conversation for all the wrong reasons. The third-year Michigan product is now the clear No. 2, and with his path in Minnesota looking murkier, speculation around a possible trade is starting to build.
McCarthy’s case is a tough one to ignore. His first season never really got off the ground because of injury, and last year he played in 10 games while throwing for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. That kind of uneven production has fueled the questions about whether his future is still in Minnesota at all.
In a FanSided feature, Mark Powell pointed to several possible landing spots and made clear that McCarthy may need a fresh start. “There are plenty of Vikings who should benefit from more stable QB play, but McCarthy is not one of them,” he says in the piece.
One of the teams he floated was the Cleveland Browns, a club that already has its own quarterback battle brewing between veteran Deshaun Watson and second-year player Shedeur Sanders. Powell’s proposed deal would send McCarthy and a 2027 seventh-round pick to Cleveland, while Minnesota would receive quarterback Dillon Gabriel and a 2027 fifth-round pick.
“A Browns trade for McCarthy is complicated by the number of young quarterbacks already on the roster,” he states in the piece. “Deshaun Watson seems likely to start Week 1 for Cleveland, although Todd Monken has yet to make that official.”
He also noted another wrinkle: “Shedeur Sanders could be up for grabs if the Vikings wish to make this trade more interesting, but they already have Carson Wentz as a reliable backup should they deal McCarthy elsewhere.”
It’s an intriguing idea on paper, but Cleveland may be too locked in on its own quarterback situation to take on another one right now.
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