Kevin O’Connell could ruin J.J. McCarthy’s Vikings career after giving away Super Bowl Sam Darnold

History is repeating itself in Minnesota.

One year ago, the Vikings got it completely wrong with Sam Darnold and allowed the resilient veteran quarterback to become a team-leading Super Bowl winner with the Seattle Seahawks.

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Signing Murray could push out McCarthy

A year later, Kevin O’Connell’s Vikings are coming off a frustrating 9-8 season and appear to be on the verge of convincing themselves that Kyler Murray is really Lamar Jackson in disguise.

Financially, Murray is a smart bet.

Arizona gave the often-injured quarterback one of the worst contracts in NFL history, which means that Minnesota could add Murray to its playoff-ready roster for just $1.3 million in 2026.

But then there’s the Vikings’ lingering Kirk Cousins problem.

And the Vikings’ Darnold problem, which cost Kwesi Adofo-Mensah his job as general manager, and gave Mike Macdonald the perfect QB to pair with Seattle’s elite defense in a Super Bowl LX knockout of the New England Patriots.

And then there’s the Vikings’ biggest self-created QB problem — J.J. McCarthy.

“It goes back to when we evaluated him coming out (of college), the traits that we’ve seen in him as a winner, playing the quarterback position for a really long time,” O’Connell said last year, describing Minnesota’s belief in the No. 10 overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.

“There’s a reason why we selected him, and the belief that we’ve had in him goes back even before making that selection.”

Failing to learn the Sam Darnold lesson

That belief allowed Minnesota to pass on Aaron Rodgers in free agency last year, despite Rodgers appearing to have real interest in joining the Vikings.

Rodgers then led the Pittsburgh Steelers to the AFC North division title and playoffs, while Darnold went a combined 17-3 last year as the Seahawks captured the NFC West and a world championship.

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That was two big misses for O’Connell, and McCarthy only made the Vikings’ headstrong 2025 QB decisions look worse.

He was limited to 10 games due to injury, while completing just 57.6 percent of his passes.

McCarthy also threw more interceptions (12) than touchdowns (11), and watched No. 1 wide receiver Justin Jefferson look back fondly on his time with Darnold.

“Everyone knows the difficulty of the quarterback position this year, how we were dealt it,” Jefferson told USA Today.

“But having a quarterback (Darnold) that already had a season under his belt with us, knew the plays, knew the playbook, knew the players, throwing to me, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, all these guys, I definitely feel like we would have done better.”

O’Connell’s job on the line with QB call

McCarthy didn’t touch the field as a rookie in 2024, suffering a torn meniscus during a preseason when he flashed impressive early signs.

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The best time to create real competition for the NCAA national championship winner at Michigan was during training camp for the 2025 campaign.

The Vikings missed that opportunity, just like they missed on allowing Darnold to walk away on an NFL-affordable $100m contract.

If Murray signs with Minnesota just as free agency is quieting down, O’Connell will tell every Vikings fan in the world that the team no longer has full belief in McCarthy as a starting QB.

One of the biggest mistakes in New York Jets history was giving up on Darnold too soon.

O’Connell also whiffed on Darnold, thought the Vikings were too good for Rodgers, and could now take the ball out of McCarthy’s hands a year after insisting he was the perfect answer.

One more big miss for the Vikings at QB, and O’Connell will follow his former GM in searching for a new NFL job.

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