Vikings are eyeing McCarthy as QB1 but haven’t dismissed further Rodgers discussions

Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said on Wednesday that naming J.J. McCarthy as the team’s starting quarterback is “the outcome we want” and “the outcome we’re headed towards.”

This was the first statement from someone in the organization since the team made major moves in the offseason, including spending $300 million and having talks with free-agent quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

However, Adofo-Mensah did not rule out the chance of revisiting talks with Rodgers later if he is still available. Rodgers recently visited the Pittsburgh Steelers, but it seems the New York Giants have moved on.

“For me to sit here and say that anything’s 100 percent forever, that’s just not the job,” Adofo-Mensah said. “We’re responding to scenarios and different information as it comes. So obviously things can change, but right now we’re really happy with our [quarterback] room and we’re going to look to upgrade it in different ways.”

McCarthy, the No. 10 overall pick in the 2024 draft, is one of two quarterbacks currently under contract with the Vikings, along with veteran Brett Rypien. The Vikings had offers out to veterans Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones, but both chose to sign with other teams, partly because they expected McCarthy would soon become the starter.

When asked about the team’s plans for filling out the quarterback depth chart for OTAs and mini-camps this spring, Adofo-Mensah suggested the team might wait until after the April 29 deadline, when free agents can no longer count toward teams’ compensatory draft picks.

McCarthy has been cleared to take part in offseason activities after recovering from a torn meniscus

He is also working to regain the weight he lost during his recovery, which was more than 20 pounds.

McCarthy told this week that the Vikings hadn’t officially told him he would be the starter, but at the very least, he is expected to take the first-team reps when on-field activities begin later this spring.

“At every checkpoint,” Adofo-Mensah said, “whether it been the draft process or practice until the injury and really the offseason now, he’s met the bar. He’s exceeded our expectations at every point. So I don’t have the ability to tell you what the future is, but I can tell you what I expect to be the outcome this offseason from the competition.

But it’s also our job to set up a quarterback room that’s going to have to … provide insurance in case somebody needs to come in for a couple of games. And that’s our job as a personnel department to look at all the options out there and make sure we’re setting ourselves up for the best case we can.”

This is why Adofo-Mensah mentioned that Rodgers and coach Kevin O’Connell “had a lot of conversations.” O’Connell was not available to comment on Wednesday, but Adofo-Mensah said that O’Connell “looped us in” on their talks, which led to discussions within the organization.

“It’s a new thing to talk about a player at that caliber,” Adofo-Mensah said. “And I’m always somebody who wants to learn and grow myself and so just being involved in those dialogues was really special.”

The discussions and the Vikings’ busy activity in free agency took place during an unusual situation for Adofo-Mensah. Two months after the team extended coach O’Connell’s contract for five years, Adofo-Mensah is still working under the original contract he signed when the Vikings hired him in January 2022. His contract is set to expire after the 2025 season.

Adofo-Mensah said on Wednesday that there has been “positive dialogue” between owners Zygi and Mark Wilf and his agent, Jimmy Sexton. He added, “It’s probably on me that it’s not going quicker because I wake up every morning focused on the things that I need to focus on to get this team to where they want to go.”

NFL teams avoid pressuring general managers into prioritizing short-term success over long-term plans

“I think when you sit down in a conversation with me and interview me and you get to know me as the person I am integrity-wise,” Adofo-Mensah said. “I don’t think you’d ever question whether I’d do the right thing by the organization for the future.

I think they continue to trust that. If you spend time with me every day, I’m not perfect. I have my faults, but willingness to do the right thing by the organization is not one of them.”

When asked if he saw any reason behind the organization’s push to finalize a deal with O’Connell but not with him, Adofo-Mensah said he didn’t. He pointed to a quote on the wall in his office that says, “Happiness is good health and a poor memory.”

“I just feel like you just don’t really find happiness in life looking at what other people have and compare it to yourself,” he said. “Every situation’s different. I know the Wilfs value me, the things I bring to this organization. I know I love it here.

We’ve been able to accomplish a lot of different things. I started my family here, Minnesota will be part of my story forever. So I don’t really think about those things, I’ll be honest on a day-to-day basis.”