The Other Vikings QB is Facing Strong Headwinds

For better or worse, Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy has found himself in the headlines. He’s not alone, however, as somebody who needs to see his fortunes turn to keep earning his living at a Minnesota Vikings quarterback.

Sophomore quarterback Max Brosmer hasn’t had a great offseason. Every so often, Kevin O’Connell will shoehorn him into the conversation. A lot of the time, though, the undrafted young fella has been a forgotten option in that QB room. He appears to be moving toward a best-case scenario of the practice squad. Is that a foregone conclusion, though?

Vikings QB Max Brosmer Needs a Terrific Weekend

In a weird way, Brosmer’s best shot at getting onto the 53-man roster means seeing McCarthy sent packing.

The Vikings appear likely to only keep a trio of arms. Both Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz are secure in their roster spots. All that remains to be determined is who will get added into the mix. The other in-house options — J.J. McCarthy and Max Brosmer — offer reason for both optimism and pessimism. These two are probably battling for at most a single spot.

Something that’s been fascinating to watch in the Kevin O’Connell era has been the failure to see young lads get brought along for very long.

Most obvious, of course, is McCarthy, but that’s a situation that’s still playing out. What is known is that the Vikings sunk a 5th into Jaren Hall and then moved on a year later. Brosmer could be moving toward a similar outcome, albeit as a UDFA addition. Upon taking over, O’Connell worked with Kellen Mond but quickly cut the athletic, inaccurate passer, a forgivable decision given that Mond wasn’t the new regime’s hand-picked passer.

Does the constellation of young QBs — Mond, Hall, McCarthy, and Brosmer — suggest that the current coaching staff struggles to grow homegrown passing talent?

Other young quarterbacks such as Desmond Ridder and Matt Corral have hung around in the Twin Cities for a brief period, but neither were homegrown and their jobs were always supposed to be of a short-term nature.

As a rookie in 2025, Max Brosmer went 1-1 as Minnesota’s starting quarterback. He completed 66.2% of his passes in a very simplified offense. His 328 yards across a pair of games isn’t very good. Worse yet, he tossed 0 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.

Brosmer finds himself battling a two-front war. Most obvious is the need to prove more promising than McCarthy, something he won’t do. Where he could still find a way to sneak onto the team is with McCarthy getting shown the door with a trade.

If that occurs — a McCarthy swap — then Brosmer’s task involves proving better than whoever becomes available. A lot of decent ball players are about to become available with teams going from 90 players to 53. Does Brosmer boast a high enough floor and ceiling to employ instead of whoever gets set free?

Last year, the Vikings determined that Sam Howell wasn’t the desired QB2, leading to a trade before then signing Wentz off the street. Maybe a similar decision takes place by showing both McCarthy and Brosmer the door prior to signing a free agent.

Max Brosmer, 25, is a well-liked player who works hard and is a great teammate. His upside is that of a long-term QB2, but that’s a best-case scenario. His path forward with the Vikings in 2026 involves snuggling into the QB3 or QB4 job.

He’ll look to solidify a role by cooking against the Broncos on Friday night in Minnesota’s final preseason game.

Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.