The Minnesota Vikings are 8-2 on the 2024 season. Through ten games, it’s been one of the more pleasantly surprising years in recent Vikings memory, and much of that has been thanks to a resurgent season from 1st year quarterback, Sam Darnold.
Sure, he hasn’t been perfect. But we didn’t expect him to be, right? Sam was brought in to be a bridge between Kirk Cousins and 1st round pick, JJ McCarthy. And in that role, he’s outpaced expectations, just by the Vikings’ record alone.
But next season, Sam Darnold will stretch his wings and fly to somewhere else, to play for an organization willing to pay him multiple years, for more than double the $10 million he is making in 2024 to bridge the gap between franchise QBs in Minnesota.
What will the Minnesota Vikings do at quarterback in 2025?
For the Vikings, the next step post-Darnold is easy, right? Head coach Kevin O’Connell hands the reins to JJ McCarthy, who will be 22-years-old next season, and we all hope + pray he blossoms into the greatest Minnesota Vikings history, right?
Maybe… but what if Kevin O’Connell decides that putting the weight of next season on the shoulders of a 2nd-year rookie recovering from two knee operations is too heavy of a cross to bear? That starting JJ in 2025 isn’t the best move for either him the organization.
Let’s just pretend for a moment, that the Minnesota Vikings go with another bridge QB, instead of throwing caution to the wind. Because if we are honest with ourselves, that’s a very real possibility, which I will get into momentarily.
If they were to decide on a second redshirt season for McCarthy, where would they turn? As a refurbished 27-year-old, Sam Darnold will no longer be adoption. Too many years. So, could the Vikings decide that a more veteran bridge instead?
What about… Aaron Rodgers?
That’s what ESPN’s Vikings beat writer and longtime NFL insider Kevin Seifert teased on Twitter Tuesday afternoon, after news broke that Aaron Rodgers’ time with the New York Jets is likely over, given the recently announced regime change within that organization.
Naturally, this is going to get a lot of blowback, on both sides of the fence. Anytime you bring up Aaron Rodgers’ name, especially within this fanbase, moods shift and eyebrows raise. But there’s a football argument to be made on both sides of this aisle.
On one hand, Rodgers is now 41-years-old, and he won’t be younger next season. If you have watched him in New York, it’s easy to see he is not the MVP player he once was. On the other hand, A-Rodg was not playing in Kevin O’Connell’s offense this season, either.
Nor was he throwing the football to Justin Jefferson, TJ Hockenson and Jordan Addison. The Jets aren’t a top-ranked organization, in terms of player happiness, like the Vikings are, either. Does that mean Rodgers would be a surefire success in Minnesota? Of course not, but everyone thought Darnold was ruined after he left the Jets too.
Everyone calm down… let’s think this out.
The most difficult part of KOC’s offense is its complexity, something Rodgers wouldn’t struggle with, like Darnold has. There would be no brain overload issues with Aaron Rodgers. And we’ve already seen what a heady QB can accomplish in this system, where receivers open schemed open regularly. Just look at what Kirk Cousins did under O’Connell for 1.5 seasons.
Of course, the bigger question surrounding a possible Aaron Rodgers + Minnesota Vikings bridge relationship probably depends on the health and development of their aforementioned 2024 No. 10 overall draft pick.
As of today, there is more fog around JJ McCarthy’s return to football activities than ever before, after undergoing a 2nd knee procedure, to reduce swelling that developed during rehab. Now, nobody can honestly tell you when JJ will be ready to play full-contact football again, or even participate in a practice setting.
Expect the Minnesota Vikings to seek another bridge QB for 2025, Aaron Rodgers or otherwise
When raising a young QB, every practice rep matters. Will McCarthy be available for summer workouts, OTAs, minicamp? Are we even sure he will be ready for full-contact by day one of training camp? The answer from insiders would be ‘I don’t know’ to pretty much all of those questions.
And when JJ does return… is he the same, confident kid that we saw win a National Championship at Michigan, then blow Vikings fans away with a near perfect debut in his only preseason game vs the Las Vegas Raiders? It’s very possible he has rust, hesitation or that he has regressed in his development, after a full year off.
So if you are the leaders inside our favorite Minnesota Vikings organization, are you willing to risk what appears to be a team on the rise, by placing the success of 2025 on the shoulders of a 2nd year rookie who’s coming off a season-ending meniscus tear and two surgeries within just a few months since?
Probably not. So then… the only question that is worth asking for the purposes of this article: Are Aaron Rodgers’ football talents still worth his weight in drama? I bet KOC would say yes… but that’s just my opinion.
