Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell says he respects Aaron Rodgers but affirms his belief in J.J. McCarthy

PALM BEACH, FLA. — Kevin O’Connell talked with Aaron Rodgers about the quarterback playing in Minnesota during the 2025 season, but the Vikings coach said the team’s discussions with Rodgers did not reflect any concern about J.J. McCarthy.

Speaking to a group of Twin Cities reporters at the NFL owners’ meetings on Monday, O’Connell said the Vikings “were one of the teams [Rodgers] reached out to” after his release from the Jets following the 2024 season. O’Connell and Rodgers have known each other for nearly two decades, dating back to their time as contemporaries growing up playing quarterback on the West Coast, and O’Connell said the four-time MVP’s accomplishments meant the Vikings were interested in talking to him about a possible fit in Minnesota.

But he used his comments on Monday, his first statements to local media about the QB situation since free agency began, to pivot further from the notion Rodgers could end up in Minnesota, while reaffirming the Vikings’ belief in McCarthy.

“Two things can be true at the same time,” O’Connell said. “We took a player 10th in the draft last year after a very extensive evaluation process, a lot of things that we hoped to see from him, we saw in a short amount of time. Unfortunately, he got injured, and we tried to maximize as much as we could, his quote-unquote redshirt year, while still making sure we were getting Sam Darnold and our other quarterbacks ready to play. Then I think J.J. was able to take some things out of that and be ready to go for the spring.

“Now, the second part of that that can be true is, Aaron Rodgers is a four-time NFL MVP and somebody we’ve all had so much respect [for], competing against him. He happened to be at a point in time in his career where he was free to have some real dialogue about what his future may look like, and we happened to be one of those teams that he reached out to. I have had a personal relationship with him going back my playing days, believe it or not — insert Kevin’s normal pun on my below-average playing career.”

O’Connell said he kept McCarthy updated “almost borderline in real time” about his conversations with Rodgers, giving the Vikings’ young QB brief updates as he worked out in the building.

“I do see him every day throughout the week, and thought it was important, just so that he was hearing it from me, and my perspective, from the first time I had any communication in regards to Aaron and any of the other free agents we’ve discussed,” O’Connell said.

The Vikings can begin offseason workouts on April 21, but with organized team activities likely starting after Memorial Day this year, the team will have plenty of time to continue McCarthy’s education before he’s back on the field.

O’Connell said he’ll have a “very personal role” with McCarthy this spring, in addition to the work McCarthy will do with quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and assistant QB coach Jordan Traylor.

The Vikings will continue to look for another veteran in the quarterback room, though the fact they could be in line for a third-round compensatory pick and two fourth-rounders next year means they could wait until an April 28 deadline when free agent pickups are no longer counted in the NFL’s compensatory picks formula. They could also pursue a trade for a veteran (perhaps even Kirk Cousins, whom sources have said could be open to a Minnesota return) if they found the right fit to back up McCarthy.

But the 22-year-old McCarthy, O’Connell said, has grown markedly in his command of the Vikings’ offense after a year where he mostly had time to study.

“He’s heard some of our play calls a hundred times now,” O’Connell said. “He knows our protection system. He knows why we change certain runs, and he knows a lot of the core principles of our offense. Now he gets to learn it from the very beginning again [this spring].”

The Chargers’ Jim Harbaugh, who coached McCarthy at Michigan, said: “There’s no challenge that he’s afraid of. He’s an elite competitor, elite athlete. He’ll compete. I love that about J.J. There’s nothing he’s afraid of.”

“It’s a great situation, and I just know J.J.,” Harbaugh added. “He’s going to be every day. Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, he’ll get in there and he’ll attack. He’s an elite competitor, and a highly talented individual. I know we’re going to have to play against him. That’s probably the second thought. I know what it’s going to look like.”

Rodgers, who reportedly had a throwing session with new Steelers wide receiver D.K. Metcalf, could be headed to Pittsburgh instead of Minnesota. McCarthy will get plenty of chances this spring to validate the organization’s belief in him.

“The fact that we even had to move up [to the 10th pick in the draft], to make sure we weren’t gonna lose J.J. for any reason, says a lot about the dynamics we had with him,” co-owner Mark Wilf said. “Of course, [he’s] a proven winner at every level. I know he was injured last year, but how he’s approached his rehab, how he’s approached everything has given everyone a lot of confidence in the building.”

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