The Minnesota Vikings might be ready to move on from J.J. McCarthy. The 2024 first-round pick, who missed his rookie campaign due to an injury, failed to impress last season with his performance.

Over the past few days, reports started to surface that coach Kevin O’Connell and his team might be moving on from McCarthy heading into 2026. On Monday’s episode of the “Dan Patrick Show,” NFL insider Jeremy Fowler said that the team is looking for a veteran presence in the quarterback department and will explore their options in free agency.

“Minnesota, I know, is considering Kyler Murray,” Fowler said. “He’s one of their stronger considerations, I would say, along with Geno Smith. That’s probably tier 1 for them. You know, maybe they look into the Derek Carr situation. Tua would probably be more of a backup, second-tier option for them.

“All these guys want to go to Minnesota. It’s a great environment, you got Kevin O’Connell, you got Justin Jefferson, you got some pieces to work with. That is a hot team right now in the quarterback market. … I would be surprised if (McCarthy) gets cut. It’s a similar situation to Anthony Richardson last year. I think in a perfect world, they would like to bring somebody on. … We’ve all been there. It’s kind of like when you get broken up with, or somebody starts seeing other people. When they do that, it’s kind of clear it’s probably over.”

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Last season, J.J. McCarthy missed seven games due to injuries. In 10 appearances, he recorded 1,632 yards and 11 TDs passing. The Vikings finished third in the NFC North with a 9-8 record and no playoff appearance.

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Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell shares his thoughts on J.J. McCarthy

On Wednesday, Kevin O’Connell discussed J.J. McCarthy during an interview with Paul Allen.

He also highlighted that he wanted to create a competitive environment for the former first-round pick, hinting at their plans of adding a quarterback in the offseason.

“With his journey up until this point, you know, he’s gotten 10 stars where we’ve been able to see a lot of things that we really, really like,” O’Connell said. “When we drafted him, we’ve seen some growth. We’ve seen some of that development time over time.

“But we’re still talking about quite a few opportunities of that development phase and growth phase missed. We want them to be in a competitive situation because of some of that time lost. We’ve really got to push the gas pedal down and not replace coaching, development and teaching with anything, but enhancing it with a really competitive situation.”

Who will the Vikings bring in to add more depth to their quarterback room for 2026?