The Minnesota Vikings have always won seven or more games in a season since 2013. They’ve won 13 contests in three of their past eight campaigns. But despite these statistically sound performances, they’ve never managed to make a Super Bowl appearance. However, heading into 2025, the Purple People Eaters are flying high in confidence.
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They’re coming off a 14-4 season (including playoffs) where they lost to only two foes — the Detroit Lions and the Los Angeles Rams. And the Vikings want to take that next step and push themselves to Levi’s Stadium for Super Bowl LX. But with Sam Darnold moving to Seattle, they are forced to rely on J.J. McCarthy to get them there.
T.J. Housmandzadeh feels it is a bad idea for Minnesota to depend solely on McCarthy, saying the Vikings are “making a mistake” by not adding to their quarterback room. Diving deeper, he told Joy Taylor, Paul Pierce, and Keyshawn Johnson that Minnesota letting Aaron Rodgers sit in free agency is a front office error.
“[They’re] making a mistake by not signing Aaron Rodgers. J.J. McCarthy may turn out to be a great quarterback… but we don’t know. We’ve never seen J.J. McCarthy playing in the [NFL]… I don’t know what J.J. McCarthy can give me. I know what Aaron Rodgers is gonna give me,” Houshmandzadeh said on Speak.
The former wide receiver believes the Vikings themselves are “uncertain” about how he’ll perform, and that’s the reason they haven’t officially named McCarthy as their starter. He also thinks the “only way” the Vikings can “have the season they want to have” is through good quarterback play.
And as great as Kevin O’Connell makes his signal-callers look, McCarthy, like Rodgers at his current age, is an enigma.
Keyshawn Johnson weighs in on Rodgers/McCarthy debate
From 1969 to 1976, the Vikings appeared in four Super Bowls. They lost them all. That’s not quite as painful as the Buffalo Bills’ four losses in four consecutive years during the 1990s. But it still stings.
And not having been back to the big game since then is quite a drought. Only the Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, and New York Jets have gone longer without reaching the big game.
Minnesota’s clearly eager to remove its name from that list. However, their actions this offseason back Houshmandzadeh’s claim. Johnson noted the Vikings tried to re-sign Darnold and Daniel Jones this offseason. While they would have only inked one to supplement McCarthy, this desire was telling.
To Johnson, it shows one of two things. That the Vikings “[don’t] have full confidence in J.J. McCarthy’s rehab”. Or they lack confidence in “his ability” to lead them in 2025.
If Johnson is right, whichever line of thinking Minnesota has doesn’t bode well for its Super Bowl outlook. The rest of the roster is ready to compete for championships. Even if it feels like history is repeating itself (Brett Favre), the opportunity to add a quarterback of Rodgers’ caliber, even in his 40s, doesn’t come around often.
The Vikings have proceeded with rookie quarterbacks before. They’ve also added veteran quarterbacks like Favre, Kirk Cousins, and Darnold. Even Case Keenum. They’ve not made a Super Bowl appearance with any of them. But their best seasons, their closest attempts, came with veterans in the saddle, and not young guns.
Rodgers is the oldest, wiliest, craziest old cowboy one could find. If Jordan Love is any indication, McCarthy would be well-served learning a few of Rodgers’ tricks.
Signing Rodgers would seemingly enhance Minnesota’s Super Bowl chances for both the short-term and long-term. They need to bring him to Minneapolis. And they need to do so before the Pittsburgh Steelers steal him away.
