A one-year run at a Super Bowl. That, along with being a mentor to young quarterback J.J. McCarthy, was the pitch Aaron Rodgers made to the Minnesota Vikings in their discussions, according to a report from Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer.
Rodgers approached the Vikings after the team was unable to keep either Sam Darnold or Daniel Jones to compete with McCarthy for the starting quarterback position, according to Breer, though Rodgers would enter the picture as the team's surefire starter. That would delay McCarthy for another year, but Rodgers floated being a mentor for the 22-year-old QB.
Ultimately, the Vikings have held off of signing the four-time MVP, appearing to be fully behind McCarthy, whom they traded up to select with the No. 10 overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft, entering the 2025 season.
Breer's latest piece was primarily about McCarthy's ascendance and recovery from a meniscus injury that kept him on the sidelines during his rookie season, and included an exclusive interview with Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell. Here is a look at some of the highlights from Breer's report about McCarthy entering 2025 (you can also read Breer's full story here):
- McCarthy was pushing Darnold for the starting job. The rookie "at least provoked discussion" in the building last season. McCarthy continued to hit benchmarks throughout the offseason, and O'Connell was impressed with how quickly he was able to develop his footwork. The main difference was Darnold's experience over McCarthy.
- The meniscus injury took a toll. While he started traveling with the team and continued to work with O'Connell and the coaches, McCarthy hadn't experienced an injury to that extent before. He lost a lot of weight and didn't like staying off the field. O'Connell did praise McCarthy for his work with the coaches while going through the injury process. And McCarthy is now nearly back to his weight from last year when the Vikings drafted him.
- O'Connell's encouraged. The Vikings coach expects McCarthy to have a great spring and training camp. O'Connell believes the young quarterback can pick up where he left off and it's up to the staff "to do our jobs as coaches."
