Behold the power of the NFL.
The Vikings haven’t played a meaningful game in a month and their season has been over for a few days, but their past and present fortunes are still front of mind for many of us.
Many questions loom over their offseason, with the two biggest being the future of defensive coordinator Brian Flores and how they will bolster their QB room after a frustrating 2025 season led by second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
The first question could be answered soon. The second will probably take a while. Both were in focus on the Wednesday Daily Delivery podcast featuring Minnesota Star Tribune columnist Chip Scoggins.
Let’s dissect them further at the start of today’s 10 things to know. Chip and I sorted the Vikings’ offseason QB dilemma into categories, trying to identify the five different types of quarterback moves they could make, so we’ll start there:
- Category 1: Trade for a franchise QB. This is essentially the Joe Burrow fantasy, or to a lesser extent a Kyler Murray question. Trading for Burrow, if he were to become available after souring on things with the Bengals, would blow up the Vikings’ salary cap and cost them multiple high draft picks. This would effectively end any talk of McCarthy being the long-term starter. Among the problems, as Scoggins pointed out, is that the Vikings are already facing salary cap questions with an aging roster. Would a swing for a franchise QB even make sense given their roster and the potential they still likely see in McCarthy? Likelihood: 3%.
- Category 2: Acquire via trade or free agency a veteran bridge quarterback who would be the unquestioned starter in 2026. This is what they could have done in 2025 if they signed Aaron Rodgers. I suppose Rodgers, 42, is still a possibility in 2026 after an efficient season leading the Steelers to the playoffs. Kirk Cousins might also be a candidate here, given that he and the Falcons just restructured his deal to precede a likely release in March. A move like this would give McCarthy a lower-pressure year to continue his development. But it would also put him on the sidelines instead of giving him the chance to earn meaningful reps. This sort of move would have made more sense in 2025. Likelihood: 20%.
- Category 3: Acquire a QB to compete with McCarthy for the starting job. This is essentially what Sam Darnold was in 2024, what Daniel Jones would have been in 2025 (and in fact it’s what he was with the Colts, where he beat out Anthony Richardson), and it’s what someone like Mac Jones or Malik Willis could be in 2026. Mac Jones and Willis fit the profile of experienced QBs who are still young enough to be either short-term or long-term solutions. Both struggled initially in the league before finding success as backups with extended playing time (Jones with the 49ers, Willis with the Packers). QBs in this mold might not be good enough to be handed a job on half the teams in the league, but they would either push McCarthy to beat them out or potentially provide stability after supplanting him. They might cost $15 million in 2026, but the cost of instability is even greater. Likelihood: 55%.
- Category 4: Acquire an experienced quarterback to be the clear No. 2 behind McCarthy. Maybe the Vikings are convinced McCarthy was starting to turn a corner toward the end of 2025 and/or are willing to take their lumps in 2026 as they transition to a younger roster. In that case, bringing in a Carson Wentz type of QB (or even bringing back Wentz himself) would make sense. It would be someone who could start if McCarthy was injured or underperforming, but the idea would be that McCarthy enters camp as the clear-cut No. 1. But that would be running back the 2025 scenario, which failed. It makes a bit more sense now, given that they have some body of work to go on from McCarthy, but it’s hard to imagine it would play well in the locker room. Likelihood: 20%.
- Category 5: Start over and use the No. 18 pick on another quarterback. This seems unlikely, but you never know. Maybe the Vikings love Alabama QB Ty Simpson, projected as a possible first-round pick long after Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza and Oregon’s Dante Moore are off the board. Still, it’s hard to imagine the Vikings shifting gears so abruptly after investing so much in McCarthy, who has multiple years left on his low-cost rookie contract. And it’s hard to reconcile using a high pick on a QB when the roster needs an injection of young legs at so many spots. Likelihood: 2%.
- Speaking of McCarthy, you can buy his face on a T-shirt.
- The Vikings’ QB woes in 2025 proved extra frustrating when a defense led by Brian Flores was dominant enough to lead the team to a 9-8 record by season’s end. If Flores leaves for a head coaching job, or even a different defensive coordinator role, it could put even more pressure on the offense to get its act together. The Raiders are rumored to be a possible destination for Flores, and on Jan. 6 another surprising team entered the picture: The Baltimore Ravens, who fired 18-year coach John Harbaugh. You’ll see Flores’ name linked to that opening as well, and more options naturally increases the chances that he will leave.
- Vikings fans, of course, are sensitive about losing star coordinators. The Ravens’ coach before Harbaugh, Brian Billick, won a Super Bowl there after being the Vikings’ offensive coordinator. And the Steelers are still coached by Super Bowl winner Mike Tomlin — formerly Brad Childress’ defensive coordinator — after Pittsburgh beat Baltimore to clinch a playoff spot in the season finale.
- I’m not sure how I made it this far without mentioning the Gophers men’s basketball team, which improved to 3-1 in the Big Ten after another court-storming victory on Jan. 6. They held off No. 19 Iowa by a final of 70-67, and it appears that new coach Niko Medved has things going in a good direction.
- Same with the Wolves, who are suddenly rolling and thinking of themselves as contenders again.
