Despite Aaron Rodgers discussion, Kevin O’Connell continues to silence all doubts about the future of Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy

There have been a lot of different discussions about the quarterback position for the Minnesota Vikings. Those discussions started with Sam Darnold potentially coming back to the team, same goes with Daniel Jones.

The one difficult thing about bringing both players back was always going to be the presence of J.J. McCarthy. The Vikings selected him at 10th overall in the 2024 NFL Draft with the idea of him being the first franchise quarterback since Fran Tarkenton.

Kevin O’Connell talks about Aaron Rodgers and J.J. McCarthy

The majority of the conversations at quarterback shifted to Aaron Rodgers pretty quickly in free agency. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was very candid about their interest in Rodgers, even stating that head coach Kevin O’Connell spoke with Rodgers directly.

O’Connell was asked about the Rodgers talks and was very clear about the process: it doesn’t mean he doesn’t believe in McCarthy.

“Two things can be true at the same time. We took (J.J.) 10th in the draft last year after a very extensive evaluation process. A lot of things we hoped to see from him we saw in a short amount of time. Unfortunately, he got injured. I think J.J. was able to take some things bout of that (last season) and be ready to go for the spring.

“The second part of that can be true is Aaron Rodgers is a four-time NFL MVP and he happened to be at a point in time in his career where he was free to have some real dialogue about what his future may look like. And we happened to be one of those teams he reached out to. I have had a personal relationship with him going back to my playing days. So, two things can be true.

“Look, you guy guys know near and dear to my heart is the quarterback development process. But I do feel very strongly about where he’s at right now based upon the information we have, the evaluation process, the time we’ve had with him I feel very good about projecting a really positive year for J.J. and now we’ve got to go to work and do it.”

The way O’Connell lays this out is pretty simple. They had a chance to bring a former MVP quarterback into the fold, even for a year, to make a run. Yes, it would be the same strategy Dennis Green implemented for years to try and get over the hump. If it made sense, it could take the Vikings to another level.

However, bringing Rodgers in doesn’t necessarily mean anything about McCarthy. He’s going into his second season and has yet to play a regular season snap. In theory, bringing in Rodgers for a season would end up being good for both this year and McCarthy’s development.

The Vikings have been steadfast and honest about the entire process and any Rodgers discussion doesn’t mean anything about the future of McCarthy.