Carson Wentz Named Vikings No. 2 Quarterback Ahead of Week 1

The Minnesota Vikings have officially rearranged their quarterback room ahead of the 2026 NFL campaign. Head coach Kevin O’Connell announced that 33-year-old Carson Wentz will operate as the primary backup to starting signal-caller Kyler Murray for Sunday’s season opener against the Green Bay Packers. The decision demotes J.J. McCarthy to the third-string quarterback role, a sharp descent for a player drafted tenth overall just two years prior.

The Vikings let Pro Bowl quarterback Sam Darnold walk in free agency last year because of their faith in J.J. McCarthy, the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft out of Michigan. O’Connell announced today that Carson Wentz will be the No. 2 quarterback in Sunday’s regular-season opener against the Packers. McCarthy is No. 3 on the depth chart, meaning McCarthy might not even be active on game day. O’Connell added that Minnesota’s backup quarterback will be determined on a week-to-week basis.

Carson Wentz is Vikings' No. 2 quarterback, J.J. McCarthy

Carson Wentz Stepped Up Behind Kyler Murray

The backup job landed with Wentz largely due to his extensive veteran experience and steady performance during limited duty. Wentz performed admirably in five appearances last season. O’Connell suggested that Wentz’s experience makes him the better backup right now, but insisted that the Vikings will continue to work on developing McCarthy.

I’m looking at that right now as a week-to-week thing, and Carson has almost 100 career starts, O’Connell said. J.J. is still going to get a bunch of great work. . . . This gives us the best chance to win this Sunday.

O’Connell added, “Carson, he’s got almost 100 career starts. What he was able to do last year from a standpoint of very limited repetition, but being able to apply a career’s worth of experience, that’s kind of what you need to do as a backup quarterback when so much of the emphasis is gonna be on getting Kyler as comfortable as we can possibly get him.” The crowded QB room, which includes Max Brosmer on the practice squad, underscored that the club wasn’t going to go through the same QB ordeal it dealt with last year, when it let Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones walk out of the building to give McCarthy his shot.

Falcons Name Tua Tagovailoa Week 1 Starting Quarterback

J.J. McCarthy’s Difficult Path From Rookie Hopeful to QB3

McCarthy’s demotion follows an injury-plagued and statistically challenging start to his professional career. The No. 10 pick in 2024, McCarthy was the highest-drafted quarterback in Vikings franchise history. Unfortunately, a torn meniscus in the preseason made him the first quarterback chosen in the first round to miss his entire rookie campaign due to injury in the NFL’s modern draft era. McCarthy’s four-year, $21.8 million rookie contract is guaranteed, so that’s the primary reason the Vikings are keeping him.

J.J. McCarthy's Position on Vikings' Depth Chart With Kyler

It looked like Minnesota’s quarterback of the future when he helped the team overcome an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit in its 2025 season opener against the Chicago Bears, scoring three late touchdowns to spearhead the victory. However, the wheels quickly fell off, as he was limited to 10 games due to ankle and hand injuries and finished with pedestrian numbers of 1,632 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. McCarthy finished last in the NFL in completion rate (57.6%), touchdown-to-interception ratio (11-12) and passer rating (72.6) last season. That made McCarthy the only first-round pick quarterback since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger to finish last in the NFL in completion percentage and touchdown-to-interception ratio in his debut season, per CBS Sports Research.

49ers Expect Nick Bosa and George Kittle to Play in Week 1 Opener

Offseason Roster Moves and Future Outlook

Kyler Murray was named the starter a month ago after winning a quarterback competition with McCarthy that never seemed like much of a competition. From the moment Murray signed a one-year deal in Minnesota, it was presumed he would start. Despite KOC’s insistence that McCarthy had a shot, it quickly became clear that Murray would be in the saddle Week 1. The other indicator of McCarthy’s short leash was the club re-signing Wentz. Now that McCarthy hasn’t even beaten out Wentz for the competition to be No. 2, it’s safe to say the Vikings are ready to move on from McCarthy, despite O’Connell’s insistence that McCarthy is still going to get great work.

The former first-rounder’s place as the backup was put in doubt given an ankle sprain late in the preseason that went from no big deal to a multi-week injury. McCarthy dropping to No. 3 on the depth chart is not going to do anything to cool the trade speculation around him, as most teams expect his future to be outside Minnesota. Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell has been consistent with his public messaging that he wants to keep working with McCarthy. However, O’Connell’s relationship with McCarthy has been under the microscope, with rumors persisting that former GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was more invested in the pick than O’Connell, something the coach actually addressed specifically at one point this month. Murray is only under contract for this season and has a no-tag clause, while McCarthy has one more year left on his rookie deal in 2027. If the Vikings traded McCarthy, they would get back dramatically less than the top-10 pick they invested to draft him, perhaps a fourth-rounder at best. Both Murray and Wentz are injury prone at the current stage of their respective careers. From 2022 to 2025, Murray missed 30 of his possible 68 games. McCarthy took all of the No. 2 reps in last week’s joint practices, and his performance was up and down ahead of Minnesota’s preseason finale at the Denver Broncos following a 13-3 preseason loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Some think O’Connell may be on the hot seat heading into the 2026 campaign after serving as Minnesota’s head coach since 2022.

Harrison Smith Signs One-Year Deal to Return to Vikings