Former Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray has already won the starting job in his new home with the Minnesota Vikings. Not only did J.J. McCarthy lose his starting job after a turbulent 2025 season, but he's also now fallen behind Carson Wentz in the depth chart.
Wednesday, Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell told reporters that Wentz will back up Murray, making McCarthy the third-string quarterback.
"This gives us the best chance to win," O'Connell said. He adds that this will be a week-to-week evaluation, but McCarthy's demotion to QB3 could signal that the Vikings are ready to move on from the experiment entirely.
Are Vikings ready to move on from J.J. McCarthy?
Ironically, a quarterback-needy team like the Cardinals, still in search of its long-term replacement at the position to fill the void left by Murray, suddenly makes sense as a team that could take a flier on McCarthy.
Though the 2025 tape was filled with more lows than highs in a season that proved even superstar Justin Jefferson isn't actually quarterback-proof, it's a window to see if McCarthy would benefit from a change of scenery with the Cardinals.
Arizona heads into a Week 1 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers with Jacoby Brissett as their starter after reworking his deal this offseason. The fact that they didn't add additional years to the deal suggests the Cardinals know that he's nothing more than a stopgap. While their best bet to find that long-term answer could be in the first round of the 2027 NFL Draft, they might as well experiment with their existing group of signal callers.
The same reasons we want Arizona to switch midseason to third-round rookie Carson Beck as a starter could also apply to McCarthy. By giving these young, unproven quarterbacks extended auditions during what is a transitional season anyways, the Cardinals put themselves into a win-win scenario. Either Beck or McCarthy is solid enough to feel comfortable at the position going forward, or their struggles continue, pushing Arizona further down the standings and closer to that coveted No. 1 overall pick.
The more bites at the quarterback apple Arizona has this season, the better. They should be monitoring these roster battles around the league to see if they can come away with another option for cheap.
The Atlanta Falcons' situation with Tua Tagovailoa named their Week 1 starter should have them calling about Michael Penix Jr., for instance. Still, McCarthy seems like the far more realistic option for the Cardinals if they are looking for a true buy-low flier. Penix wouldn't come cheap, as the Falcons are likely easing him back from a partially torn ACL and still value him as part of that offense going forward.
That couldn't be further from the case in Minnesota, where it's increasingly possible the Cardinals could steal the Michigan product for nothing more than late-round draft capital at this point.
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