Conflicting information is coming from the NFL combine with regards to the Minnesota Vikings and arguably their best potential option to challenge/replace JJ McCarthy in 2026.
“[The] Vikings [are] not ready to give up on JJ McCarthy just yet, but they’re also not ready to sort of hand him the keys and anoint him the starter for 2026 after what happened last year,” Graziano reported. “So look for them to try and add a veteran.”
Matthew Berry of NBC said on Saturday that he heard consistently two names on whom the Vikings are currently out.
“I heard that Kyler Murray, not on Minnesota’s radar really,” Berry said. “One name that I’ve heard that I know [the Vikings are] not super interested in, and that’s JJ McCarthy.”
However, Graziano’s reporting refuted the rumors Berry heard in the specific context of the Arizona Cardinals releasing Murray, which would free him up to sign somewhere like Minnesota at his league-minimum price tag of $1.3 million.
“Particularly if you look at these guys — Kyler Murray, Geno Smith — if they get released by their current teams and are available for cheap, for veteran minimum deals, I think that’s the kind of guy the Vikings have in mind,” Graziano continued. “[They could] come in and start and would get JJ McCarthy’s attention and would help give them a little more time to evaluate whether JJ McCarthy remains viable for the future without the pressure of having to play and win right now.”
Kyler Murray Has Potential to Start for Vikings Across Multiple Seasons
GettyArizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray.
Murray is a two-time Pro Bowler (2020, 2021) who will play next season at just 29 years old and is not that far removed from arguable status as a top-10 quarterback in the league.
“Though Murray’s play dropped off last season, he’s only one year removed from a 63.4 QBR in 2024, the ninth best that season,” Seth Walder of ESPN wrote last week when proposing that the Cleveland Browns trade for Murray and make him their starter in Week 1.
A trade for Murray is a far less enticing proposition financially in Minnesota, where the team must clear $45.5 million in salary cap space to get under the 2026 salary cap threshold. Murray has three years remaining on his $230.5 million contract, the final of which is a team option in 2028.
However, if the Cardinals can’t move Murray and decide to cut him — which seems outlandish but is what some analysts like ESPN’s Field Yates have said could happen regardless — he all of a sudden shoots up to the top of the list of available free-agent prospects.
Vikings Would Get Huge Bargain by Signing Kyler Murray to Minimum Deal
GettyArizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray.
Should Arizona release Murray with a pre-June 1 designation, the team will lose a little over $2 million against the salary cap and face a dead money hit of $54.7 million. If the Cardinals do it with a post-June 1 designation, the more likely cut scenario given the financial implications, they save just over $5 million against the cap and pay $47.5 million in dead money.
Either way, Murray cashes in and hits free agency with the ability to sign with any team interested at a $1.3 million salary. That paltry sum would come off the Cardinals’ price tag for Murray in 2026 and serve as a $1.3 million cap hit for, in this scenario, the Vikings.
At that price, Murray is a vastly better play than Cousins or Smith, who led the league in interceptions in 2024 and 2025, respectively, and will each play next season in their late 30s.
Minnesota can still let McCarthy compete for the starting job and move him to QB2 in a worst-case scenario that sees the top two spots in the quarterback room cost the Vikings a total of less than $7.3 million against the cap next season.
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