If you haven’t noticed, there has been quite the rash of injuries at the quarterback position around the National Football League. Whether they’re bigger names like Sam Darnold, Jayden Daniels, and Caleb Williams (who is now week-to-week after selling the injury he suffered against our Minnesota Vikings like Marty Jannetty going through the barbershop window), or quarterbacks who aren’t quite as high up on the food chain, teams are already two. . .or even three. . .deep into their depth chart at the game’s
most important position.
Along with those injuries have come trade rumors, at least some of which have centered around Minnesota’s own J.J. McCarthy. I’m not totally sure why, but on this morning’s episode of Get Up! on ESPN, Adam Schefter reported that the New York Giants had not contacted the Vikings about a potential trade for McCarthy after losing Jaxson Dart for the season on Monday night.
Again, I’m not sure why Schefter felt compelled to report that there wasn’t contact between the Vikings and the Giants about McCarthy. It seems like it would only really be a story if there was, wouldn’t it?
I’m not sure why the Vikings, at this point, would feel compelled to trade McCarthy to the Giants or to anybody else, but the suggestions started appearing right after the Dart injury happened on Monday night. Apparently the people who would trade McCarthy for the football equivalent of a grilled cheese sandwich now feel that the Vikings could get something of value for him in a deal.
Never mind the fact that the Vikings had to turn to their own backup quarterback approximately seven minutes into the 2026 season when Kyler Murray got concussed against the Packers and currently have a quarterback depth chart comprised of three players (Murray, Carson Wentz, and McCarthy) who each have a significant injury history. And, you know, ignore the fact that the Vikings started three different quarterbacks themselves last season, too.
Unless a team offers the Vikings a deal for McCarthy that absolutely blows them away, there’s zero compelling reason for them to trade him at this point in time. And if he’s as awful as so many of the Really Smart Football People™ swear that he is, who’s going to offer anything of any actual value for him in a deal?
I’ve probably used this comparison before, but it reminds me of back in the old message board days when we had a faction of Vikings fans who would simultaneously claim that Daunte Culpepper was a terrible quarterback and that if the Vikings wanted to field trade offers for him they could probably get multiple first-rounders in exchange. I’m not an NFL front office guru or anything like that, but I’m relatively certain that, as the youth today say, the math ain’t quite mathin’ there.
When it comes to a potential trade of J.J. McCarthy, the Vikings hold all of the cards. They don’t have to trade him. It’s not as though he’s some sort of malcontent who’s causing drama and issues in the locker room. . .quite the opposite, from all accounts. (And I mean accounts from his teammates and people who are actually, you know, around him most of the time, not randos on social media.) Vikings GM Nolan Teasley has said that he thinks McCarthy is a part of the team’s future, so if he even wants to test the market, he can simply name his price, sit back, and see if anybody wants to meet it.
I know that’s going to disappoint the people who have wanted McCarthy out of Minnesota since approximately five minutes after he was drafted, but that’s the reality of the situation. At this point, it would be quite shocking if the Vikings traded J.J. McCarthy anywhere, and it would make just about no sense for them given their current situation.
