Daily Norseman
The Minnesota Vikings completed a shuffle of their backup quarterbacks on Sunday, having completed their evaluations of Brett Rypien, Sam Howell, and Max Brosmer after the last preseason game concluded on Friday night.
Apparently Kevin O’Connell and company had seen enough of Sam Howell after two preseason games and training camp to sit him against the Titans and then send him packing to Philadelphia. Brett Rypien was probably already out the door in the coaches’ minds on Friday night, and his performance left them with no second thoughts.
But jettisoning Howell and Rypien probably wouldn’t have happened unless KOC was confident in Max Brosmer as QB2, at least in the short term.
Sure, the Vikings signed Carson Wentz, who remained unemployed all spring and summer, as a veteran backup, but that doesn’t mean he’s the primary backup. It’s important to remember in considering Wentz’ role, that he’s been one-and-done with four teams since the Eagles traded him in 2021. Perhaps even more to the point, the Vikings preferred to keep Brett Rypien on their roster all spring and summer rather than sign Carson Wentz for the league minimum, and such was the case with the 31 other teams and their QB3s, QB4s, and QB5s.
It’ll also take some time for Wentz to get up-to-speed on the scheme and what not.
Wentz could eventually become the QB2 this season, but that shouldn’t be assumed. Nor should it be assumed that he stays on for the full season. Wentz has a total of 43 pass attempts since 2002, all in meaningless week 18 games with teams resting their starters ahead of the playoffs. He makes sense for the Vikings as a team needing a veteran backup on short notice, because he’s a) available for cheap; b) spent a season in 2023 in a similar scheme in LA under Sean McVay; and c) Josh McCown knows him from being in the same QB room with him his last season as a player.
What doesn’t mesh with Kevin O’Connell and the Vikings’ culture is that Wentz has developed a reputation of not being a good locker room guy, who was seen as selfish and egotistical and who only associated with a small number of preferred players while in Philadelphia, and got into a fight with Darren Sproles that had to be broken up by Jason Peters for reportedly voicing his displeasure with the Eagles success in their 2017 Super Bowl run after he was injured, and personality issues contributed to his departure from Indianapolis as well.
After his trade from the Colts to the Commanders, a March 2022 report from The Athletic stated that the Colts were frustrated with Wentz’s “lack of leadership, resistance to hard coaching and reckless style of play”. Some within the organization were ready to move on from him even before the late-season collapse that saw the Colts miss the playoffs. Colts GM Chris Ballard also commented on Wentz’s struggles with accuracy and decision-making...
