The JJ McCarthy era has gotten off to a horrific start, and that is putting it lightly. One year after winning 14 games with Sam Darnold and looking like a contender, the Minnesota Vikings now look like one of the worst teams in the NFL, as second-year passer JJ McCarthy has played flat-out bad football.
No matter how you slice it, this team is going backwards, and they have more issues than just the QB. Minnesota was aggressive lasts offseason in adding talent and clearly wanted to try and keep winning while also developing McCarthy.
Those two things simply have not been able to coexist, so Minnesota might be forced to pursue a more legitimate QB option and already move on from their first-round pick from Michigan. There is still a shot that McCarthy figures this out, as it's not even been 10 starts in the NFL, but the timeline with the Vikings might not match up. Who could they instead pursue?
3 logical quarterback solutions if the Vikings move on from JJ McCarthy
Mac Jones, San Francisco 49ers (trade)
Mac Jones signed a two-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers this past offseason and got some work earlier this year with Brock Purdy's toe injury. Jones was 5-3 with eight starts and threw for 13 touchdowns against six interceptions.
He completed nearly 70% of his passes and had a 97.4 passer rating. Jones was very good while Purdy was recovering, and Purdy has looked a bit rough this year.
However, the 49ers paid Purdy and are likely to stick with him. If there is a strong enough trade offer on the tabel for Mac Jones, the 49ers would surely be willing to deal him. Jones could be another reclamation-type project for Kevin O'Connell, as well, as he worked wonders with Sam Darnold in 2024.
A trade for Mac Jones could make a ton of sense.