Another J.J. McCarthy Trade Theory Has Arrived

Some of the world just can’t seem to stomach that the Minnesota Vikings would have two QB1 options in 2026, evidenced again last week by a trade theory from Fansided that claimed third-year passer J.J. McCarthy should be shipped to the Arizona Cardinals.

Minnesota signed Kyler Murray in March, and he’s on tap to duel McCarthy in August for the Vikings’ top job. According to Wynston Wilcox, the Vikings would be best served to trade McCarthy to Arizona.

Why the Cardinals Trade Theory Falls Short

Fansided: Vikings Should Trade McCarthy to Cardinals

Wilcox claimed Saturday that Minnesota should swap McCarthy for a 5th- and 7th-Round pick with the Cardinals and lean fully into the Murray experiment.

He argued, “The writing is on the wall; Kyler Murray is the new quarterback in town, and the Minnesota Vikings even brought Carson Wentz back too. That should tell J.J. McCarthy everything he needs to know about his job security in Minnesota.”

“The only good thing about McCarthy staying in Minnesota for now is that both Murray and Wentz are injury-prone; outside of that, he’s as good as traded already. I feel like only the New York Jets would be foolish enough to take a crazy gamble on a quarterback like McCarthy, but the Cardinals also make sense for a couple of reasons.”

McCarthy ended 2025 on a high note, ranking as the NFL’s sixth-best passer per EPA+CPOE from Week 14 to Week 18.

Wilcox continued, “For one, if Jacoby Brissett doesn’t get his contract situation resolved, Arizona could use this as an opportunity to find another young passer to try and develop. The Cardinals have a lot of holes to patch on this team, and wasting a high pick on a quarterback is a risk that isn’t necessarily worth it in my opinion. That’s why they ultimately get away with a fifth-round and seventh-round pick here.”

“Because of Murray and Wentz’s injury history, I could see the Vikings waiting to trade McCarthy. That said, if he survives Week 1, his value could skyrocket if a team desperately needs a quarterback good enough to start in the interim.”

McCarthy’s Would-Be Outlook in Arizona

Let’s just be clear here: McCarthy would take over Murray’s old team, along with its weapons and defense. First-time head coach Mike LaFleur is running the show, and on offense, McCarthy would experience these playmakers:

• Jeremiyah Love
• Trey McBride
• Marvin Harrison Jr.
• Michael Wilson
• Kendrick Bourne
• Tyler Allgeier
• James Conner
• Trey Benson

On defense, well, that’s a different story. The Cardinals have ranked as follows on defense per EPA/Ranking over the last five years:

If the Fansided theory came true, McCarthy would enjoy pretty decent offensive weapons, a probably poor or average defense, and an offensive line that ranked 26th leaguewide per PFF last year. Not ideal.

The Murray Former Employer Irony

There’s some obvious irony here — the Vikings just acquired Murray, who quarterbacked the Cardinals for seven seasons. For now, McCarthy and Murray are on tap to battle for Minnesota’s QB1 job at training camp, even if Murray is the heavy favorite to prevail.

Minnesota signed Murray in March for $1.3 million — that cheap because Arizona paid him to get the hell out of town. After a few hours of suspense, Murray quickly signed with the Vikings, his childhood favorite team, and later explained that playing for head coach Kevin O’Connell, a known quarterback whisperer, was a no-brainer.

If Wilcox gets his way, Murray and McCarthy will swap jobs without an official one-for-one swap.

Of course, McCarthy would have to fight Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew, and Carson Beck for the QB1 job.

Vikings Should Just Keep McCarthy

The Vikings have finally created options for themselves, a stark contrast to their predicament in 2025. Back then, Minnesota made McCarthy their singular plan: the primary strategy and even the emergency exit early in the 2025 offseason. They bypassed opportunities to retain Sam Darnold after a 14-3 season, bring back Daniel Jones, or even explore Aaron Rodgers.

Instead of gradually integrating McCarthy, they immediately handed him the starting role and accepted the consequences. While McCarthy showed flashes of potential, he didn’t fully blossom, and the Vikings consequently missed the playoffs. By February, the team recognized the need for another solution at quarterback.

That solution arrived in the form of Murray. Murray’s presence doesn’t guarantee flawless quarterback play — no player does. However, his arrival fundamentally alters the team’s dynamic. The Vikings are no longer forced to invest all their hopes in a single young quarterback to succeed instantly.

They possess two legitimate paths forward.

This is precisely why trading McCarthy would be illogical. He remains young and affordable enough to retain while the quarterback situation evolves. Considering that quarterback injuries have derailed two of the last three Vikings seasons, discarding a viable quarterback option at this stage would introduce unnecessary risk. Wilcox’s 5th and 7th-Rounder is plainly not worth it. Those are throwaway draft picks.

Minnesota spent a year experiencing the repercussions of a too-narrow quarterback strategy. Now, they finally have breathing room. Don’t squander it on a strange trade with the Cardinals. McCarthy’s full story isn’t written yet, and the Vikings can control his contract for three more seasons.

Dustin Baker is a novelist and political scientist. His second novel, The Invaders , is out now. So is … More about Dustin Baker