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Kevin Seifert
EAGAN, Minn. — There were some nights this season when Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah stared at the ceiling. Where had he gone wrong? Why were the Vikings losing so many games because of their quarterback play, and what could he do about it in 2026?
«It’s easier to go and be a revisionist and results-based,» Adofo-Mensah said this week. «But to really think through what we had at the time, I still understand why we did what we did. The results maybe didn’t play out the way we wanted them to. Ultimately, I think that at the end of the day, we could have executed [player acquisitions] better in certain places.
«And I don’t want to say individually, in terms of a particular player, but just executing better, knowing what the room was play-style-wise, experience-wise, and really put together a better combination of people, collective in that group. That’s the thing I probably focused on the most.»
That conclusion helps explain why the Vikings appear set this offseason to run back a similar process in building their quarterback room — but with a determination to cultivate better results. In public statements this week, Adofo-Mensah and coach Kevin O’Connell stressed the depth they want to create around J.J. McCarthy. Neither committed to McCarthy as their 2026 starter, but they also have not written him off after his injury-filled, roller-coaster 10-game NFL debut.
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In other words, the Vikings have positioned themselves roughly where they were at this time in 2025: hoping to pair McCarthy with a starting-caliber quarterback as both competition and a safeguard against injuries and/or slower-than-expected development.
Last year, they thought that quarterback would be Daniel Jones, who had spent the final six weeks of the regular season on their practice squad. But Jones decided instead to sign with the Indianapolis Colts. The Vikings then entered training camp with McCarthy as their default starter after assembling a depth chart that included Sam Howell, Brett Rypien and Max Brosmer. By the end of the season, the Vikings ranked No. 29 in the NFL in team QBR (34.9).
In reporting on the circumstances late in the season, ESPN quizzed sources on the possibility of the Vikings pursuing a quarterback with enough stature to vault ahead of McCarthy as the unquestioned 2026 starter before camp begins. None could rule it out. At the very least, and perhaps more realistically, the Vikings will target a quarterback equivalent to what Jones was in 2025, when he won the Colts’ job in training camp and started 13 games before tearing his right Achilles.
«I absolutely want a competitive situation,» O’Connell said.
Just as they weren’t sure whether McCarthy was ready to be their starter in 2025, the Vikings didn’t see enough last season to convince them unequivocally that he’ll make enough progress to lead them to the playoffs in 2026. Asked if he wanted McCarthy to be the starter, Adofo-Mensah paused and then said: «I want the Vikings to achieve our goals.»
«And I think one of those goals is to make playoff runs and do different things like that,» Adofo-Mensah added. «I think he has the character and ability to be the person and do that for our organization. If I say that in 2026, that kind of binds us into a certain area.
«The way we’ve set this team up … to give ourselves multiple shots at [a Super Bowl] because you never know when there’s going to be a year where the field feels a little bit wide open and you can make that run. … It’s my job to really bring that deep, competitive room that we’ve talked about to the Vikings.»
That leaves the Vikings to once again walk the tightrope that collapsed beneath them last season. The annual dearth of starting-caliber quarterbacks in the NFL usually means that players at Jones’ level have multiple options. Jones chose the Colts, where he had a clearer path to win the starting job. By the time he made that decision, it was too late for the Vikings to use their franchise tag to retain 2024 starter Sam Darnold. The drop-off to the remaining quarterbacks was steep, which for the Vikings meant acquiring Howell and then ultimately replacing him after a poor training camp with Carson Wentz.
Can the Vikings fall on the right side of that drop-off in 2026? Jones is again eligible for free agency, although Colts general manager Chris Ballard said this month that he wants to re-sign him. But unless the Vikings pull off a blockbuster deal for, say, the Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow, the remaining options will be flawed.
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Green Bay Packers backup Malik Willis, who has started six games in four seasons, is a pending free agent but is likely to have multiple suitors. The Atlanta Falcons could release former Vikings starter Kirk Cousins, 37, in mid-March. Aaron Rodgers, 42, and Joe Flacco, 41, will be free agents. So will Jimmy Garoppolo, who has started seven games in the past three seasons, and Russell Wilson, who is 37 and ranks No. 32 in NFL QBR since the start of the 2021 season.
The San Francisco 49ers’ Mac Jones and the Las Vegas Raiders’ Geno Smith could be available via trade, and the Miami Dolphins might part ways with Tua Tagovailoa. Jones has been a backup for two seasons, Smith ranked No. 27 in NFL QBR this season, and Tagovailoa ranked No. 26.
The Vikings’ cleanest option, by far, is for McCarthy to make fast progress this offseason and, at the same time, learn the skills that can help him minimize injuries. McCarthy said at the end of the season that his performance and health are related — «I feel like the injuries will slowly fade away with just more situational awareness and presence» — and Adofo-Mensah agreed that «availability is a skill.»
Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell made clear this week that they can’t count on that progress, after seeing the results of counting on it in 2025. It’s an understandable assessment. But quarterback acquisition is hard. The Vikings had a solid plan in 2025 and couldn’t execute it. Can they be better with their next opportunity? Their 2026 season almost certainly depends on it.
