The Minnesota Vikings had bad injury luck with quarterback J.J. McCarthy ahead of his rookie campaign. However, the opposite appears to be true as the 22-year-old begins working to prepare for his second NFL season.
Minnesota announced on Monday, April 21, that McCarthy is entirely healthy and will participate in all preseason activities.
"I think he's ready to hit the ground running as of today," head coach Kevin O'Connell said, per Kevin Seifert of ESPN.
McCarthy has spent the majority of the last three months working to get into game shape at the team facility, Seifert added in his report.
While all of that is good news for the Vikings, the team still has a significant amount of details to sort out in the QB room. Namely, it must decide who will serve as McCarthy's backup and quasi-mentor.
O'Connell is a former NFL signal caller himself and one of the better offensive schemers/play callers in the league, so inking a veteran to help McCarthy navigate what will presumably be the starting job is perhaps less important than it would be elsewhere.
However, having a veteran in-house who can step in if McCarthy struggles greatly and/or suffers a new injury is of paramount importance. As of Monday, the only other quarterback on the roster was Brett Rypien.
The Vikings have already passed on the opportunity to sign Aaron Rodgers via free agency. However, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Monday that the team is back in on trade talks for Kirk Cousins.
The Atlanta Falcons are looking to move Cousins and want the team that acquires him to pay $20 million of the $37.5 million the Falcons still owe him. Schefter said that is unlikely, but added that the Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers are potential candidates to pick up $10 million on the tab.
Cousins is familiar with O'Connell's system and much of the roster, which would render him a sensible choice in Minnesota. However, he also has a no-trade clause and may choose to void a potential reunion if he doesn't believe he'll get a fair shake in the preseason QB battle with McCarthy.
