Needing to use a backup quarterback in the NFL can either mean your season has gone off the rails or is about to surprisingly be saved.
The Vikings have seen it go both ways, which is enough to believe their weekend No. 2 QB shuffle is significant, even though it might not end up mattering.
Having previously acquired Sam Howell in hopes that he could serve as the backup behind J.J. McCarthy, the Vikings reversed course and added more experience and pedigree to the position by sending Howell to the Eagles while signing Carson Wentz.
Howell started all 17 games for Washington in 2023. He also went 4-13, threw 21 interceptions and took 65 sacks. There was a reason he threw 612 passes that season and just 14 last year, which the Vikings discovered during a lackluster training camp and preseason.
“Ultimately, I feel good about where Sam’s at,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said Friday.
KOC might not have been telling the whole truth, as Patrick Reusse noted on Monday’s Daily Delivery podcast. They brought Wentz in for a workout on Saturday, and the Vikings coach apparently feels even better now that Howell is in Philadelphia and Wentz is here.
How much the Vikings end up needing Wentz remains to be seen. It is possible that hard-charging undrafted free agent Max Brosmer eventually even supplants Wentz on the depth chart behind McCarthy.
The Vikings, of course, hope they don’t need anyone but McCarthy this year. History, on the other hand, suggests they might — as I’ll examine at the start of today’s 10 things to know.
