Sam Darnold is gone, and J.J. McCarthy is healthy.
The Vikings will be McCarthy’s team this season, even if Kevin O’Connell doesn’t come right out and say it.
In an interview with Rich Eisen on Wednesday, O’Connell danced around whether the Vikings would have a competition for the job.
“J.J. is going to be in a great position to assume and ascend in our organization,” O’Connell said on The Rich Eisen Show. “But right now, we really don’t have any feelings on competition as much as we’ve got an obligation as coaches to put our players in position to attack that competition phase. Sam [Howell] will be a part of it. But we’ve got to get Sam ready to play. We’ve got to get Brett Rypien ready to play. . . . Excited about our quarterback room, but now it’s our job to go coach them.”
O’Connell, though, finally admitted to Eisen that McCarthy is “owning it” this offseason.
“When he is taking snaps, he’s taking plenty of snaps from [starter] Ryan Kelly, who happens to be a 10-year starting center in this league. Take that for what it’s worth,” O’Connell said. “I don’t think Vikings fans or any wildly successful nationally renowned broadcasters like yourself should be worried about the amount of reps J.J. is going to get with the ones. We’re going to have him ready to go.”
The team’s first-round pick in 2024 was competing with Darnold for the starting job in training camp when McCarthy tore the meniscus in his right knee. He underwent surgery Aug. 14 and required a second procedure in November.
O’Connell said he has seen a difference in McCarthy from a season ago in the quarterback’s footwork, rhythm, timing, cadence, leadership and in identifying defensive structures.
“Yeah, he’s having a great start to his offseason program,” O’Connell said. “The journey he’s been on really before the injury. This guy comes in here with an incredible amount of energy and excitement for him coming here last year. He was getting better every single day. The growth from Day 1 of rookie minicamp this time last year all the way through his first performance in the preseason game, his growth in practice playing against a really good defense every day. There was a lot to be excited about. As Sam was having a great camp, so was J.J., and that was a really good thing for the Minnesota Vikings at the time.
“He had the injury, as you know, and nobody was more crushed about that than me — probably second to J.J. He really had to deal with what that was like to have the game taken away. ‘I’ve got to focus solely on my rehab. I want to be out there with my guys. There’s nothing I want more.’ He had to really laser his focus and center on getting healthy, and he did that. He was able to attack the offseason once the season kind of ended, and kind of be in this building every day. He’s bigger. He’s stronger. I can see it in his arm. I can see it in his movements. I can see just the ownership of playing quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. He gained a lot from last year, albeit not how we drew it up. . . . Now can we just build and build and build and progress?”
A veteran corner may be on his way back to the Pacific Northwest.
According to a report from ESPN, the Seahawks are in discussions with free-agent cornerback Shaquill Griffin about re-signing with the club.
Griffin, 29, was a Seattle third-round pick in 2017. He played his first four seasons with the club, reaching the only Pro Bowl of his career with the Seahawks in 2019.
He’s also spent time with Jacksonville, Houston, Carolina, and most recently Minnesota. Griffin appeared in all 17 games with three starts for the Vikings in 2024, recording two interceptions and six passes defensed.
Griffin has appeared in 106 games with 82 starts in his career. He’s tallied 70 passes defensed with nine interceptions.
Sam Howell has a new number. And it’s Kirk Cousins’s old number.
The new Vikings backup wore No. 7 at North Carolina. No. 14 with the Commanders, and No. 6 in Seattle. Those three numbers were taken in Minnesota.
So it’ll be No. 8 for Howell.
Cousins spent six years with the Vikings with two playoff appearances and one postseason win. That’s hardly enough to get his number set aside, much less retired.
The move should slam the door — if it wasn’t already closed — on the possibility of Cousins being traded to Minnesota. Then again, one injury can change everything. If the Vikings end up scrambling for a quarterback they way they were after Cousins suffered a torn Achilles tendon during the 2023 season, a return by Cousins wouldn’t be impossible.
If it happens, either Howell would have to give up No. 8 or Cousins would have to pick a new number.
That’s what Cousins did when he went to Atlanta, since tight end Kyle Pitts has No. 8. (Because a change would have been very expensive, given the league’s rules regarding unsold jerseys, Pitts didn’t give it up for his new quarterback.)
Cousins took No. 18 with the Falcons. Obviously, that would be off the table if he somehow comes back to Minnesota. One of these days, No. 18 will likely be retired for receiver Justin Jefferson.
Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy was able to play only one preseason game during his rookie year.
But as he detailed this week, he still gained a lot from sitting and watching things unfold over the course of 2024 — particularly from now-Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold.
Darnold had the best year of his career, which he parlayed into a three-year contract with Seattle as a free agent. But along the way, McCarthy was able to pick up plenty from the No. 3 pick of the 2018 draft.
“Just being a true pro,” McCarthy said in his press conference this week when asked what he learned from Darnold. “Showing up, being the same guy every single day. It didn’t matter if he had four touchdowns one week or had a not-so-great game the other week. He showed up, and he was the same guy every day. And that’s the biggest thing I took from him.”
Darnold completed 66.2 percent of his passes for 4,319 yards with 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in the regular season last year, good for a passer rating of 102.5.
Andrew Van Ginkel’s first season with the Vikings went about as well as anyone could have hoped.
The edge rusher was voted a second-team All-Pro after recording 79 tackles, 11.5 sacks, two interception returns for touchdowns, six passes defensed, and a forced fumble. It was the first time that Van Ginkel, who signed a two-year deal after leaving the Dolphins, started every game and the Vikings made it clear this week that they think more of the same is coming.
Van Ginkel signed a one-year, $23 million extension with the team and General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah told Paul Allen of KFAN Wednesday that having Van Ginkel locked up through 2026 was always his desire.
“In free agency, we actually tried to sign him to a three-year deal,” Adofo-Mensah said. “There was another team that came in and offered a two-year deal that we had to compete with. You always want the longer-term deal as much as possible, knowing that if he plays well, this is the type of thing you’re gonna be able to do. We were excited to add a year and really, to reward him for the year he had so he would make more money this year.”
The original deal likely would have called for Van Ginkel to make less in 2026, but the trade off is one the Vikings are likely happy to make given how much Van Ginkel provides to the defense.
After agreeing to terms with 19 undrafted free agents over the weekend, the Vikings have added another.
Minnesota announced on Wednesday that the club has agreed to terms with UDFA receiver Myles Price.
Price played four seasons at Texas Tech before transferring to Indiana in 2024. He caught 38 passes for 466 yards with three touchdowns in his final collegiate season. He also averaged 12.6 yards on 23 punt returns.
In 42 games for Texas Tech, Price caught 161 passes for 1,751 yards with 10 touchdowns. He also rushed for 207 yards on 26 carries with a pair of TDs.
While being a first-year starter isn’t easy, Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy does get the benefit of playing with one of the league’s best receivers.
Justin Jefferson has been rewriting the record books in his first five seasons, even eclipsing 1,000 yards in 2023 despite missing seven games due to injury.
McCarthy explained to reporters on Tuesday that the way to establish good chemistry with Jefferson isn’t complicated.
“More reps, the better,” McCarthy said in his press conference. “On the field, off the field, as much time as I can to spend around him. But he’s such a phenomenal talent, and once in a generation type talent that it’s more just you gotta not adapt your game to him, but you gotta understand like it’s going to take reps and reps and reps to feel his routes in and out of the break.
“But he’s just so special, so I just can’t wait to get to work with him every single day.”
Last season, Jefferson caught 103 passes for 1,533 yards, tying his career high with 10 touchdowns. He was a first-team All-Pro, Pro Bowler, and finished No. 7 in offensive player of the year voting.
Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy feels ready to take over the starting job after recovering from the knee injury that wiped out his rookie season and his teammates appear to agree that McCarthy has what it takes to handle the job.
The Vikings are still in the first phase of their offseason program, but several veteran Vikings players noted the energy that McCarthy is bringing to the building each day. Right tackle Brian O’Neill called it “infectious” and safety Josh Metellus said that McCarthy matches that energy with a great deal of poise.
“To have poise the way he does, I think it goes a long way, especially for a team — especially for the leader of a team,” Metellus said, via the team’s website. “For our quarterback to not even [have stepped] on the field yet and already have that poise, that energy when he walks in the building, is very special. I could talk about his abilities on the field all day . . . but for a guy to be the person he is in the building is something to look forward to.”
The on-field skills will be another significant part of the puzzle, but McCarty seems to have the intangibles it will take for him to succeed in his new role.
The Vikings are keeping one of their key defensive players around for another year.
Minnesota has agreed to a one-year contract extension with edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
Schefter notes the extension is worth $23 million with $22.4 million guaranteed.
Van Ginkel was entering the last season of the two-year deal he signed with Minnesota last offseason.
Starting all 17 games for the Vikings in 2024, Van Ginkel finished with a career-high 11.5 sacks with 18 tackles for loss and 19 quarterback hits. He recorded two interceptions, both of which he returned for touchdowns. He was on the field for 81 percent of Minnesota’s defensive snaps.
Van Ginkel was familiar with defensive coordinator Brian Flores from their shared time on the Dolphins.
In 90 career games with 59 starts, Van Ginkel has recorded 28.5 sacks, 49 tackles for loss, and 76 quarterback hits along with four interceptions, 27 passes defensed, and five forced fumbles.
Maine wide receiver Montigo Moss, the son of Hall of Famer Randy Moss, has accepted an invitation to the Vikings’ rookie minicamp, Moss’ representation announced Tuesday.
Montigo Moss went undrafted over the weekend, but his father’s team will give him a shot as a tryout player.
Montigo Moss caught 61 passes for 722 yards and seven touchdowns in earning All-CAA honors last season.
In five college seasons, he caught 143 passes for 1,692 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Randy Moss was a first-round pick of the Vikings in 1998 on his way to becoming one of the best receivers in NFL history. He played eight seasons in Minnesota and made 587 catches for 9,316 yards and 92 touchdowns. Moss was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2018.
