The Vikings have made it clear that they plan for J.J. McCarthy to be their starting quarterback in 2025, but the identity of their backup quarterback has been the subject of some interest in Minnesota this offseason.
McCarthy did not play as a rookie because of a knee injury and Sam Darnold is now in Seattle, which leaves Brett Rypien as the only other quarterback on the roster. Rypien has been around the league for a while, but he isn’t the ideal Plan B in the event that the Vikings have to turn to another signal caller.
There’s been some thought that the Vikings are waiting to sign someone until after the draft so they don’t affect the comp pick formula and General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said at a Thursday press conference that it is a consideration, but not the only one that the team is keeping in mind.
“We’re gonna focus on, as my staff always does, the best opportunities there,” Adofo-Mensah said. “We’re not going to rush it either way. But we’re mindful of it.”
Other teams have been less patient when it comes to securing their backups, so there’s a limited number of available free agents at the position. They include names like Carson Wentz, Desmond Ridder, and C.J. Beathard.
Aaron Rodgers has broken his silence.
He appeared on Thursday’s edition of The Pat McAfee Show, at the apparent urging of his sister. After complaining (as he usually does) about the “bullshit” out there, he said he has told teams he would play, if he does, for only $10 million.
So where do things stand? “I’m open to anything and attached to nothing,” Rodgers said, repeating what has become his 2025 did-I-do-that catch phrase.
He attributed the lack of a decision to issues in his personal life, involving people in his inner circle. And he acknowledged that retirement is still a possibility.
Rodgers specifically said it’s not accurate that he’s waiting for the Vikings. That theory, in the absence of information of Rodgers, has emerged to explain his failure to sign with the Steelers after last month’s six-hour visit to Pittsburgh.
He also took issue with the reporting about his divorce from the Jets. He said that, while he was meeting with coach Aaron Glenn, Glenn ran out of the room to get G.M. Darren Mougey. He said that, after asking whether Rodgers wants to play football, he was told they’re going in a different direction. Mougey then asked how he wanted the “messaging” to be handled.
Said Rodgers, “I don’t give a shit about the messaging.”
He assumed the meeting (which he said lacked an “ample amount of respect”) would last a couple of hours. It lasted, per Rodgers, 15 minutes. And he referred to the situation in New York as a “debacle.”
“There’s obviously things that need to get fixed over there,” Rodgers said.
One thing that needs to get fixed is Rodgers’s Internet service. It keeps sporadically crapping out. We’ll keep watching and listening for more worth posting.
Four years ago, Aaron Rodgers upstaged the draft when a flurry of reports emerged regarding the question of whether he was about to be traded by the Packers. Whether he intended or not, Rodgers commandeered the spotlight, with many thinking he could be sent to the Broncos during the first round.
With the 2025 draft a week away — and with Rodgers still not under contract with any team — his status continues to attract attention and raise questions.
The Steelers have made it clear, for weeks now, that they want him. His lack of action has made it clear, for weeks now, that he’s waiting for something. Whether he wants to skip the offseason program or prefers another team (like the Vikings) or wants to see if another team comes to the table, Rodgers is taking his time and saying nothing at all about his timetable for making a decision.
Creeping on the fringes of the situation is the possibility Rodgers won’t play at all, or that he’ll only play for a true Super Bowl contender. It’s hard to reconcile that potential outcome with reports that he wanted to play for the Jets, who haven’t been to the playoffs in 14 years.
More options for Rodgers could emerge, in time. The Vikings might decide to sell Babe the Blue Ox for a handful of Ayahuasca seeds. And all it takes is one quarterback on a true contender to get injured, and Rodgers could be in great position to end his career with a Super Bowl win. Or, at a minimum, a return to where he hasn’t been in four years and counting: the postseason.
Could the Steelers decide to not wait? If they take a quarterback next Thursday night, maybe they’ll close the door on Rodgers. Plenty of their fans wish they would. They think it’s beneath the Black and Gold to beg anyone to play for them. (And maybe it is.)
In theory, Rodgers could sign with the Steelers or any other team at any time. And maybe the Steelers will make a power play. Maybe they’ll tell him if he doesn’t accept their offer by the time the draft starts, they won’t rule out picking a quarterback and closing the door.
For now, the wait continues. With no clear indication from anyone that there’s anything Rodgers is specifically planning to do.
As a rookie, Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold wore No. 0. He has made a change for 2025, as a tribute to a former teammate.
Via Eric Woodyard of ESPN.com, Arnold will wear No. 6 in honor of Khyree Jackson. Jackson, who played with Arnold at Alabama, died last July in a car accident.
Jackson wore No. 6 at Alabama. He transferred to Oregon before being selected by the Vikings in the fourth round of last year’s draft.
“We all know what happened to my friend Khyree and I just feel like just being able to honor his legacy and then the impact that he even had on me,” Arnold said on the New Wave Podcast. “The guy was a competitor, the ultimate competitor and it’s kind of just that extra motivation when you look down and you say, ‘Dang man, I got on that 6 and my brother living through me at the same time.’”
The driver who caused the crash that killed Jackson and two of his high-school teammates faces 13 criminal charges, including DUI and vehicular manslaughter.
Former NFL tight end Don Hasselbeck died of a heart attack Monday, his son, Matt Hasselbeck, announced on social media. Don Hasselbeck was 70.
“It is with deep sorrow that we share the passing of our father, Don Hasselbeck,” Matt Hasselbeck wrote. “We want to thank our parents’ neighbors and all the medical professionals who came to his aid.
“He was a great husband, father, grandfather, friend, coach, player, coworker, artist, mentor, and storyteller. Despite being an All-American at Colorado and a Super Bowl Champion with the Raiders, what we are most proud of is the leader he was for our family. He helped set our feet on solid ground. Married to and in love with our mom, Betsy, for 50 years, they built their house on the rock of Jesus Christ. Our dad’s prayer journals, in his meticulous handwriting and in a rainbow of pen colors, hold each of our names and needs. Many of you who have known our father, have been thoughtfully prayed for in the pages of his journals.
“There is a 6’ 7” hole in our hearts. He will be so missed by so many. We are beyond grateful that he was our dad and look forward to Heaven and being all together again.”
The Patriots made Hasselbeck a second-round pick out of Colorado in 1977, and he spent seven seasons with the team. He played most of the 1983 season with the Raiders after a trade from the Patriots, and won a Super Bowl ring. Hasselbeck blocked an extra point attempt in the Raiders’ Super Bowl XVIII win over Washington.
He finished his career with a season with the Vikings (1983) and a season with the Giants (1984).
Hasselbeck played 123 games with 30 starts and made 107 receptions for 1,542 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Hasselbeck’s sons, Matt and Tim, played quarterback in the NFL.
Brett Favre is getting the documentary treatment. And it won’t be a Favre-sanctioned infomercial.
Via Michael McCarthy of FrontOfficeSports.com, The Fall of Favre is arriving on May 20. Part of the Netflix Untold series, it’s a production of EverWonder Studios, Time Studios, and Front Office Sports.
The documentary looks into the Jenn Sterger situation in New York, which happened near the end of his playing career. It also explores the Mississippi welfare scandal, which resulted in one lawsuit against Favre to two defamation lawsuits by him — against fellow Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe and Pat McAfee.
Favre has consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection the welfare controversy. He declined to be interviewed for the documentary.
It’s unclear whether The Fall of Favre plows new ground. Even if it doesn’t, enough soil was already disrupted to merit a full inspection of how things went sideways for Favre.
Given Favre’s decision to sue Sharpe and McAfee, it also will be interesting to see whether Favre reacts to The Fall of Favre by filing another lawsuit.
Patrick Peterson returned to Arizona on Monday to announce his retirement from the Cardinals’ facility and called it a “no-brainer” to make the announcement with the team that took him fifth overall in 2011.
Peterson spent 10 seasons with the Cardinals and made the Pro Bowl in each of his first eight seasons. He was also named a first-team All-Pro three times before moving on to Minnesota and Pittsburgh to finish out his career. Peterson did not play at all in 2024 and said at his press conference that he doesn’t feel like he’s incapable of continuing to play at a high level, but does think the league is looking in other directions for defensive backs.
“I still can play, but I do not want to play. . . . This is a young man’s game now,” Peterson said. “You see all these grays on my chin now. I’m not — quite frankly, at my position, I’m not accepted anymore. I can live with that because at the end of the day, I had a great 13-year career. There’s no regrets. Me and my wife, we talked about this ever since I wasn’t able to be picked up last year. I’m perfectly fine with my decision. I’m very, very happy where I’m at in life and my career. My cement is dry now.”
Peterson said he hopes to move into media or work on helping the Cardinals win a title because he’s “still missing my ring.” That’s about all that’s missing from a football resume that will likely land the cornerback a spot in Canton.
The football future for quarterback Aaron Rodgers remains to be determined. The future of his football helmet has been decided.
His preferred model — the Schutt Air XP Pro Q11 LTD — has been banned.
Matt Moret of TheAthletic.com has the list of the seven latest forbidden football helmets. They are the Riddell Foundation, the Riddell Speed Icon, the Riddell Speed, the Riddell Revolution Speed Classic, the Schutt Air XP Pro Q11 LTD, the Xenith Epic+, and the Xenith Epic.
Via Andrew Vasquez of USA Today, Rodgers wears the Schutt Air XP Pro Q11 LTD. During the 2024 season, an item from Fox59.com pointed out that Rodgers, Joe Flacco, Thomas Morstead, and Nick Folk use that same model.
Rodgers has been there, done that already. In 2019, he needed to find a new helmet after his prior choice was dropped.
“It’s not difficult at all,” Rodgers said at the time. “I was wearing the one like [Brett Favre] was wearing for so long. That was a little outdated, probably, and then I think around that time when the CBA got signed, they had some better regulations about the safety quality of the helmets, and I’ve just kind of been up to date for years. Last year, my helmet — because there’s been such advancements in helmet safety — my helmet was in the not-as-safe category but anybody wearing that got one more year to find a new helmet. I knew coming in I was going to have to change.”
So the banning of his helmet apparently won’t factor in Rodgers’s decision on whether to play in 2025. Sooner or later, we’ll know what he’s going to do.
We think.
The Aaron Rodgers waiting game just got a little more interesting.
With Saints quarterback Derek Carr reportedly suffering from a shoulder injury that could impact his availability for 2025, the Saints suddenly need a quarterback. And Aaron Rodgers is the best available free agent.
Expect to see a report, sooner than later, that the Saints have reached out. Whether it goes anywhere remains to be seen. However, New Orleans becomes another option for Rodgers.
The situation further underscores the reality that more opportunities could arise, in time. Players get injured. The right injury at the right time (which, for the player who gets injured, would be neither) opens a possible door for Rodgers.
So it’s the Steelers or maybe the Vikings or maybe the Saints or maybe he keeps on waiting to see if a starting quarterback with a clear-cut contender suffers a season-ending injury.
The Vikings are set to turn to 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy to be their quarterback moving forward.
In an appearance on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football on Thursday, Vikings running back Aaron Jones talked about his excitement for the young quarterback to take over.
“J.J.’s a winner,” Jones said. “If you look from high school through his time in college, he’s lost one career game. He came in [and] in his short time there, he was balling. The preseason, he ended up getting hurt, unfortunately. But I think it might’ve been a quarterback battle if he didn’t get hurt. He’s different. He’s a competitor. He wants to be great and he’s hungry.
“So, I think you’ll see it when he steps on the field.”
Jones mentioned that even though McCarthy wasn’t able to play as a rookie due to injury, he took copious notes on defensive players.
“Just the way — he’s very methodical in everything he does,” Jones said. “So, attention to detail, he’s fully dove in and then some. I’m excited to even be in the backfield with him, take some handoffs, and have him throw it to me, too.”
McCarthy was the Big Ten quarterback of the year in 2023, helping Michigan win the CFP national championship before the Vikings traded up to take him at No. 10 overall last spring.
