Because of J.J. McCarthy’s lengthy injury transcript and his rocky performance in 2025, plus the Minnesota Vikings’ leadership mandate to […]
Because of J.J. McCarthy’s lengthy injury transcript and his rocky performance in 2025, plus the Minnesota Vikings’ leadership mandate to “win now” next season, a different quarterback is almost certainly on the way during the 2026 offseason. This publication ranks the best, most realistic options.
Minnesota needs a credible QB2 plan behind McCarthy, and these realistic targets fit Kevin O’Connell’s approach and the cap situation.
What this analysis will not do is suggest a bombastic fix like, “Just trade for Joe Burrow,” because the Cincinnati Bengals would need Luka Doncic-level decision-making to trade him. Focusing on realism is the wiser method.
Minnesota’s Best 2026 Quarterback Fixes
Ranked in ascending order — No. 1 is the best option overall — these are Minnesota’s top QB-fix options in 2026.
5. Trade a Late-Rounder for Will Levis
Levis could be on the move this offseason. He’s spent this year parked on injured reserve, and Tennessee may have already seen enough from Cam Ward to consider a Levis trade. The arm talent from Levis is real, but the platter comes with erratic decisions and a habit of inviting mayhem.
In Kevin O’Connell’s quarterback environment, that skill set becomes more manageable. Structure and repetition with O”Connell have a way of sharpening raw traits, and Levis would at least bring upside worth pondering.
4. Trade a Late-Rounder for Anthony Richardson
The Indianapolis Colts used the fourth overall pick on Anthony Richardson in 2023, knowing he was as raw as they get from the draft’s Top 10 and insisting they’d be patient with his maturation. How long did that experiment last? Oh, 15 starts.
The Colts compiled an 8-7 record with Richardson under center, but pulled the plug last summer after Daniel Jones played so well at training camp, and Richardson’s injury history is extensive.
Somewhere, Richardson will eventually deserve a chance to start again, just to make sure coaches have exhausted all QB1 efforts in him. Why not the Vikings? General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah could probably get Richardson for a 6th-Round pick.
He has all the talent in his toolkit to succeed, and that’s why the Colts spent the fourth overall pick on him.
3. Sign Malik Willis from Free Agency
Willis has logged just 58 dropbacks this season, but the efficiency in that small window has been sweet. By EPA+CPOE, he’s been the most efficient quarterback in the league. That pace probably isn’t sustainable forever, but the seeds are there.
Willis is quietly rebuilding his career, and someone will give him a real QB1 audition in July and August. Minnesota could be one of the teams willing to see whether the progress holds.
He’ll probably cost somewhere between $15 million and $25 million per season. That’s chump change for a quarterback, especially as the Vikings won’t have to trade anything to get him.
2. Trade a Mid-Rounder for Mac Jones
Jones has revived his career in San Francisco. He got the full 49ers gift-wrapping.
These are his stats from 2025 stretched across a 17-game sample:
- 4,570 Passing Yards
- 28 Passing TDs
- 13 INTs
- 69.6% Completion
Does that path look familiar? Two years ago, Sam Darnold followed a similar arc under Kyle Shanahan and Klint Kubiak. Kubiak has since reunited with Darnold in Seattle, but the Shanahan thread connecting that turnaround to Jones is still in play.
Jones now sits in that same rebound lane, alongside the Daniel Jones revival template. Quarterback-needy teams will take notice of Jones this offseason. The question is whether Minnesota would consider sending a mid-round pick to San Francisco and whether that kind of swing would justify the cost.
Jones won’t come cheap. The 49ers locked him into a two-year deal last offseason, giving themselves the option to keep him in reserve for 2026 if Brock Purdy’s injury history continues to raise eyebrows.
The Alabama alumnus perfectly fits what Minnesota needs in a 2026: a passer ready to start as the QB1, if needed, but familiar with a QB2 role if McCarthy rises to stardom. He blends team need and contract affordability.
There’s just no way to know if he’s for sale.
1. Trade a Mid-Rounder for Kyler Murray
Murray has the mobility, arm strength, accuracy, experience, not-old age (28), and clutch gene to lead the Vikings. He’s the fifth-most accurate quarterback in NFL history (67.1%). He ran a 4.38 forty before the 2019 NFL Draft.
If the Arizona Cardinals make him available — they sure as hell appeared to “softly bench” him this year in favor of Jacoby Brissett — this is probably the best quarterback that Minnesota can realistically obtain this offseason.
Will he stifle McCarthy’s maturation? Probably. Yet, through a lens of Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell needing to win now, shoving their chips into the middle of the table for Murray makes the most sense. He’s not cheap; his cap number in 2026 is $53 million. Accordingly, the Vikings would probably have to rip up his contract, give him a handsome new one, and backload the deal. That’s feasible.
Quarterbacks with Murray’s talent and still-to-reach upside don’t become available on the open market very often. Should Arizona make him available — or flippantly release him — the 2026 Vikings would probably pounce.
Not for nothing, Murray’s trade price won’t be obscene like the price for Joe Burrow or Lamar Jackson (two passers in Vikings fans’ shoot-for-stars plan). Adofo-Mensah might be able to send a 2nd- or 3rd-Rounder to the Cardinals for Murray.
Category: General Sports
