Bleacher Report's Kristopher Knox has named Minnesota as one of the teams who could consider pursuing a trade with the New York Giants for veteran quarterback James Winston. "While Minnesota did trade for Sam Howell this offseason, it doesn't have a ton of experience behind second-year quarterback and first-year starter J.J. McCarthy," Knox wrote.

The Minnesota Vikings are trying to improve on a 14-3 season. Which player is under the most pressure to help achieve that in 2025?

The Vikings made a bold bet on J.J. McCarthy as their 2025 starter — but questions are already surfacing about the team’s backup plan. With Sam Howell struggling early in training camp, Minnesota’s decision to bypass veteran QBs in free agency is under fresh scrutiny.

J.J. McCarthy's second training camp with the Minnesota Vikings is off to a telling start after he missed his rookie season.

The Minnesota Vikings are moving forward with J.J. McCarthy, but they could look to add this New York Giant to bolster their backup quarterback spot.

Those running the Vikings took somewhat of a gamble when they decided to trust that McCarthy would be ready to win meaningful games in September after he spent his entire rookie season recovering from a meniscus repair.

According to our good friend and fellow J.J. McCarthy enthusiast Thor Nystrom, the plan is for McCarthy to start the preseason opener in 12 days against the Houston Texans and then not play at all until the regular season starts,

He’s not a veteran; heck, rewatching all his NFL throws takes about two minutes because all of them came in the 2024 preseason against the Las Vegas Raiders. So what’s the plan? Resting him or giving him some reps?