The narrative changed. The road map has not. The Vikings brain trust played the situation correctly, and because of that, the organization still is positioned firmly in win-now mode while transitioning to a quarterback who is essentially a rookie.
Scoggins: Vikings' QB plan — to build a bridge to J.J. McCarthy — is playing out perfectly
The team could have been swayed by Sam Darnold’s role in those 14 wins but wasn’t. If the Aaron Rodgers chatter is only words, they’ve correctly stayed the course.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 13, 2025 at 12:57AM
Unless, of course, the Vikings turn the NFL world upside down again with a Brett Favre reenactment and invite the circus to town by signing Aaron Rodgers, which is juicy speculation from national media that just won’t die.
Seriously, can this organization ever enjoy a drama-free zone with the quarterback position?
While envisioning Kevin O’Connell clubbing Rodgers over the head with his culture shield, let’s assume that the scuttlebutt remains just that and not the organization’s path forward for the sake of understanding where the Vikings reside as of Wednesday evening.
Plans don’t always work out perfectly, but they need to make sense when putting them together. The one that began last offseason makes sense.
A 14-win season came out of nowhere, enthralling in its unexpectedness, as if O’Connell, Sam Darnold and the entire operation got doused in pixie dust.
It wasn’t a fluke, but it wasn’t something that even those who put the wheels in motion could have forecast. There is zero percent chance that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell sat back in their chairs after signing Darnold to a one-year bridge contract and thought, “Yessir, we just signed a quarterback who is going to lead us to 14 wins.”
Crazy things happen in the NFL. Success might be linear in other sports, but the NFL has too many variables involved to predict with a high degree of certainty how a team’s season will unfold. Injuries cause teams to crater. Older players reach the physical cliff. A quarterback who was labeled a bust finds a career renaissance with a new team.
Teams assemble rosters with sustainability in mind against that unpredictable reality.
Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell created a working document after taking control of the Vikings operation. The GM and head coach revealed the contents of that document last offseason: Find a franchise quarterback in the draft and clear a ton of salary cap space to build up infrastructure around that young quarterback.
The Vikings wisely said goodbye to Kirk Cousins, drafted J.J. McCarthy with the 10th overall pick and signed Darnold to cover the gap until McCarthy takes the baton.
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Darnold’s surprising season did not need to cause a detour in that plan. The idea that Darnold represented a bridge to himself made no sense, if one has paid attention to clues and was honest about how things ended in the final two games.
Re-signing Darnold would have meant less money to spend on positions that desperately required upgrades. Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell knew that. The Vikings had no chance of advancing into the true tier of Super Bowl contenders without addressing their deficiencies in the trenches. The playoffs provided an unvarnished glimpse of that reality.
The Vikings didn’t fall prey to emotion or get suckered into believing that another season or two of Darnold was worth changing the script. Honestly, it shouldn’t even have been tempting.
Cost certainty with a quarterback on his rookie contract is gold in NFL currency. Pick the right guy, create the right environment for him to succeed and see where that goes.
O’Connell has earned the nickname Quarterback Whisperer. McCarthy is his next project. The clock should start now. The coach’s new contract runs through 2029, affording him plenty of runway to see if a big payoff might come.
Adofo-Mensah’s job this offseason is to focus on the other parts. His checklist of must-do items was clearly defined:
Upgrade the interior offensive line, a problem area for far too long. Check. Guard Will Fries and center Ryan Kelly fortify the middle.
Bolster the interior defensive line with pass rushers. Check. Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave are disrupters in collapsing the pocket.
Devise a plan at running back. Check. Re-signing Aaron Jones is a solid start.
Adofo-Mensah’s free-agent class last offseason qualified as a home run. Basically every addition met or exceeded expectations. That’s rare and will be difficult to duplicate, but his aggressiveness in spending big money to fill needs is the right action.
The Vikings look stronger on paper and better equipped for the postseason based on the moves. Now it’s up to O’Connell to work his magic with McCarthy. Assuming they stick with that plan this season.
The Rodgers speculation seems outlandish for many reasons. The Vikings should trust their instincts on McCarthy and their roadmap. No sense in deviating now.
Smith’s plan wasn’t a bit certain when the team's season ended suddenly, but a new contract brought him back.
