When the Minnesota Vikings took J.J. McCarthy 10th overall in the 2024 draft, the message seemed obvious: this was the quarterback they planned to grow with. But a rookie season cut short by a torn meniscus and a bumpy follow-up year have changed the tone around the building. And it seems like Kevin O’Connell may already be bracing for life beyond McCarthy.

The rumor mill is loud. With McCarthy struggling, the Vikings are being linked to veteran options for 2026. Names like Daniel Jones and even Aaron Rodgers have surfaced as possible targets. None of this is subtle.

“The likeliest way they can keep [Justin Jefferson], or make him happy, is Daniel Jones,” ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky pushed the thought.

And then there’s former Viking Anthony Barr, who once delivered the hit that fractured Rodgers’ collarbone and created years of tension between the two. Oddly enough, he’s advocating for the Vikings to sign Rodgers next year. Not because he thinks Rodgers is the long-term answer, but because he wants McCarthy to sit and learn.

“Yeah, too early to give up on him… imagine he had a year to learn from… dare I say… Rodgers,” he wrote on X.

There’s logic to both ideas. Jones has looked reborn in Indianapolis after signing a one-year, $14 million deal this offseason. He’s thrown for 3,041 yards with 19 touchdowns and a 101.3 passer rating, leading one of the more efficient offenses in football. And he hasn’t been shy about crediting O’Connell for helping him grow.

“But going to Minnesota, I saw how Sam [Darnold] prepared. I saw how Kevin [O’Connell] prepared those guys, Josh McCown, Grant Udinski, that crew, and how detailed they were, day in and day out, on every little bit of the plan. How they’re going to study it. What they’re looking for, walking through it, quizzing each other in the quarterback room,” Jones said.

He claimed that the small tenure behind Sam Darnold and under O’Connell made a big impression on him. So yeah, he’s bound to be a good fit.

Rodgers, meanwhile, practically offered himself to Minnesota last offseason. He pitched the Vikings on a “one-year run at a Lombardi,” even promising to mentor McCarthy. Minnesota passed at the time. Would Rodgers even consider them now after being turned away? It’s hard to know. Add in the constant talk about retirement, and it gets even cloudier.

So, whether it’s Jones or Rodgers, McCarthy’s development just took a major hit.

What’s next for J.J. McCarthy?

Kevin O’Connell’s message this week is pretty straightforward: he doesn’t want McCarthy drowning in mechanics right now. The footwork, the leg-whip motion, all of that can be cleaned up later. What he wants at this moment is a quarterback who sees the field clearly and makes the right choices. That’s why he keeps stressing decision-making, because the turnovers have piled up, and he knows you can’t win games when you keep giving the ball away.

“It’s purely about decision making at this point,” O’Connell said. “I want him to have a clear head and a clear mind to just go play, but play with an understanding of the decisions that I make…I don’t want him overthinking or worrying about – if the fundamentals need to be changed, if they need to be adjusted, if we need more time on task on that, that’s one thing. But let’s just make the throws. Let’s just throw and catch. Let’s just play with great rhythm and understanding of the plan.”

It’s hard not to wonder what the season in Minneapolis would look like had the Vikings kept Sam Darnold on the franchise tag instead of turning things over to J.J. McCarthy. At this point, you get the sense the front office might be replaying that decision in its head.

Darnold is steering a Seattle Seahawks offense that’s humming along, while McCarthy’s year has been defined by stops and starts. Injuries have already taken six games from him, including the trip to Seattle after he landed in concussion protocol following the Week 12 loss to Green Bay.

And when he has played, it’s been a mixed bag. There have been a handful of encouraging stretches, but the full body of work isn’t close to what the Vikings hoped for. In six starts, he’s 2-4 with a 54.1% completion rate, 929 yards, six touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.

In this league, flashes don’t get you very far if they don’t last four quarters. Right now, it’s clear he’s still learning on the job. If Minnesota actually pursues Daniel Jones or Aaron Rodgers, McCarthy better hope it’s Rodgers. Jones isn’t signing a one-year patch job, not with the way he’s played in Indianapolis.

If he lands in Minnesota, he’s coming in as the starter for a while, and McCarthy would slide into a backup role with no guaranteed path back. And at this point, it’s hard to imagine another team handing him a starting job.

Rodgers, on the other hand, would likely arrive on a one-year deal, and that would almost certainly be his final lap in the league. That scenario gives McCarthy a mentor, one of the best to ever play the position, and a chance to sit, watch, and reset.

Kevin O’Connell has always tilted toward long-term thinking, and it’s tough to picture him hitching his plans to a 42-year-old quarterback. Either way, any move in that direction would be a major blow to McCarthy’s trajectory.