Aaron Rodgers has reportedly chosen between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Minnesota Vikings, as the feeling around the NFL is that the 41-year-old will play for Mike Tomlin’s team. However, J.J. McCarthy may not be safe yet.
Even though the Vikings made it clear that they intend to work with the second-year quarterback as starter ahead of the 2025 NFL season, they also refused to rule out a move for Rodgers later in the offseason.
Kevin O’Connell was honest with both Rodgers and McCarthy about the Vikings QB situation, keeping the latter in the loop about his conversations with A-Rod. Adam Schefter of ESPN, however, notes that a potential arrival of Rodgers could lead McCarthy to make a strong decision such as requesting a trade.
“If they were to sign Aaron Rodgers, and this is why they’ve punted on it so far, it would bring a whole other set of logistical issues,” Schefter said on Get Up, via on3. “We don’t know what would happen with JJ McCarthy. We don’t know exactly how signing Aaron Rodgers would sit with him, but my initial guess would be that would not be what he prefers, and the organization has been looking for somebody to challenge him, but not necessarily threaten him.
J.J. McCarthy #9 of the Minnesota Vikings warms up before the preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders at U.S. Bank Stadium on August 10, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“And signing Aaron Rodgers absolutely would threaten his job, which would lead to questions about McCarthy’s future, because we don’t know what he would do. It’s possible that he could ask to be traded if they sign Aaron Rodgers, and I can tell you this, there will be other quarterback needy teams that would be waiting to reach out to the moment they sign Aaron Rodgers: ‘What can we give you for JJ McCarthy?’.”
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O’Connell explains the Vikings’ stance on Rodgers, McCarthy
Speaking at the NFL‘s annual league meeting on Monday, O’Connell addressed the Vikings QB situation with the Rodgers rumors and McCarthy’s return from injury, explaining that “two things can be true at the same time.“
“We took [McCarthy] 10th in the draft last year after a very extensive evaluation process,” O’Connell said. “A lot of things that we hoped to see from him, we saw in a short amount of time. Unfortunately, he got injured and we tried to maximize as much as we could with his ‘redshirt’ year. … And I think J.J. was able to take some things out of that and be ready to go for the spring.
“The second part that can be true, is Aaron Rodgers is a four-time NFL MVP and somebody who, not just myself, but we’ve all had so much respect for competing against him. 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 that he reached out to. And I have had a personal relationship with him going back since my playing days.“
Vikings feel confident in McCarthy
O’Connell knew that the possibility of landing a player of Rodgers’ caliber in the open market at least deserved consideration from the Vikings’ end, even if their plan was to finally see what McCarthy could bring as QB1.
The Michigan product, who led the Wolverines to the National Championship in 2023, spent his entire rookie year in the NFL on the sidelines due to injury. Now, the Vikings want to see what he can bring to the table.
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“I do feel very strongly about where [McCarthy is] at right now. And based upon the information we have from the evaluation process, the time we 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,” O’Connell added.
The Vikings’ desire to move forward with McCarthy increases the Steelers‘ chances of landing Rodgers, as Pittsburgh would gurantee him a starting job on a competitive team. But if the weeks pass and he’s still a free agent, Minnesota could still be a possibility.
