Sportsnaut
Coach Kevin O’Connell may be navigating the Minnesota Vikings toward treacherous waters. He’s kicked off a full-blown starting quarterback competition between two high-level athletes. Some have said that Kyler Murray is still the most tantalizing QB prospect the state of Texas has ever produced, and keep in mind, Patrick Mahomes was born in the Lone Star State too.
Meanwhile, J.J. McCarthy managed to lead Michigan to the College Football Playoff national championship. While he’s a bit more raw, there’s certainly something intriguing about his ability to get a locker room to rally behind him.
But only one man can win this job. It’s not like running back or receiver, where the backup will still receive occasional opportunities. For the Vikings, the hope is that the loser of this competition never sees the field because the winner is so successful. Of course, that’s not what the loser wants, at all. So, what happens when the Vikings announce their starting QB?
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Some have suggested that if McCarthy were to lose the starting job, the 2024 first-round pick would go to his agent and request a trade out of Minnesota. However, a Vikings analyst recently spun a different idea. What if McCarthy wins the job? How would Murray, a two-time Pro Bowl QB who’s only signed up for this season, respond? He just might be the one who requests a trade instead.
Recently, Tyler Forness of A to Z Sports outlined that very scenario.
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Forness raises a great point, in that this season is all about maximizing value for the 28-year-old Murray. While the Vikings may only be paying him $1.3 million this season, he’s still raking in the dough from his Arizona Cardinals contract. That won’t be the case next season, when, barring an extension, Murray will be hitting the open market. A strong season could place Murray into a new earnings stratosphere, in the $50 to $60 million range. Yet, that won’t happen if he’s rotting away on the bench behind what could be a new and improved version of McCarthy.
Of course, most anticipate that this situation would never come close to happening. The expectation is that the more experienced Murray will prove more capable of leading the Vikings into victorious battles than the 23-year-old McCarthy is right now. But with over two months to go before the Vikings play their first regular season game on Sept. 13, there’s plenty of time for McCarthy to catch up.
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