The Minnesota Vikings have become a team that wants to cover all its bases and leave nothing to chance. When the 2024 season came to its stunning close with one-sided losses to the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams, the biggest weaknesses were the interior offensive and defensive lines.
The Vikings quickly addressed both needs, signing center Ryan Kelly and guard Will Fries, both of the Indianapolis Colts. Those two should be an upgrade for head coach Kevin O’Connell’s offense. At nearly the same time, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah brought Jonathan Allen of the Washington Commanders and Javon Hargrave of the San Francisco 49ers aboard.
Allen and Hargrave should give creative defensive coordinator Brian Flores two more weapons to destroy opposing offenses.
Weaknesses addressed, turning those areas into potential strengths. However, the Vikings still have not brought in a competent backup quarterback in case J.J. McCarthy is not healthy enough or good enough to lead the offense. The Vikings are facing a potential disaster in either of those situation.
Brett Rypien is the only backup quarterback on the roster, and he did not throw a single pass or take a snap last year. This has to keep Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell from having many peaceful nights.
In spite of Rypien’s lack of experience, the last thing the Vikings want to do is turn to Aaron Rodgers and ask him to come aboard and serve as the backup to McCarthy. Rodgers is 41 years old and he is two years removed from an Achilles injury that kept him from playing beyond the first quarter of the opening game of the season for the beleaguered New York Jets.
Rodgers returned to the Jets last season and played a full 17-game season and put together a decent statistical season that included 368 completions in 584 attempts for 3,897 yards along with 28 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Those decent numbers did little to help a perennially losing team. A 5-12 season was the result and the Jets told Rodgers that they did not want him back for the 2025 season.
There is no reason to think that Rodgers wants to be a backup quarterback, although that is a conclusion he could come to shortly if the New York Giants or the Pittsburgh Steelers don’t come calling.
If neither of those teams makes an offer that Rodgers wants to accept, the Vikings should not bring the former Packers quarterback into the fold. It would turn out to be a rare form of poison that could destroy the Vikings locker room.
O’Connell can’t afford to see his leadership questioned
Rodgers knows how to play the interview game. He could say all the right things to O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah and convince them well before the start of training camp that he could fit in and serve as a mentor to McCarthy.
But a well-meaning commitment to fitting in will have little to do with the reality of a raised eyebrow in training camp, some words of advice for the offensive line, the receivers or a running back. A player with Rodgers’ history of success and experience is bound to lead to differences of opinion with O’Connell and the Minnesota coaching staff as the season progresses.
Rodgers has had more success on the field than anyone associated with the Vikings. He also has a certain way of expressing himself. Those who disagree with him will have a difficult time maintaining their position and confidence.
He may not be a boss, but he carries himself like one. It would only diminish O’Connell’s authority within the locker room.
O’Connell is not a “my way or the highway” kind of coach. If you look carefully around the NFL, there are few of those types left. O’Connell is the most supportive of coaches towards his players, and he functions well because that support comes back at him tenfold from his staff of assistant coaches and his players.
The presence of a locker room diva like Rodgers would tear the fabric of the Vikings apart and potentially turn the 2025 season into a disaster.
