On August 30, 2016, during the Vikings’ final preseason practice, Teddy Bridgewater dropped back for a pass at Winter Park. As he faked a handoff to Adrian Peterson and Rhett Ellison moved to block, Bridgewater planted his left foot—and his knee collapsed, throwing the Vikings into a quarterback crisis that would impact the team for nearly a decade.
At the time, Bridgewater was in the third year of his rookie contract, which still gave the Vikings up to three more years of control before needing to make a decision on his future. Just five days after the injury, the Vikings traded a first- and fourth-round pick to the Eagles for Sam Bradford, taking on $25 million in salary over two years for a quarterback they hoped would keep them in Super Bowl contention.
However, despite starting the season 5-0, the Vikings finished 8-8, and Bradford’s degenerative knee injury limited him to just six quarters the next season. But under Case Keenum, the Vikings went 13-3 and reached the NFC Championship game. In the 2018 offseason, they again believed they were just one quarterback away from a Super Bowl.
Since then, the Vikings have gone 1-3 in the playoffs, despite paying Kirk Cousins $185 million over six seasons. The team faced salary cap struggles during the final years of GM Rick Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer’s tenure as they attempted to keep veterans across the roster while managing Cousins’ short-term deals. Back-to-back losing seasons ushered in Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as the new general manager, with a mandate to refresh the roster and address the team’s cap situation.
A central part of Adofo-Mensah’s plan was securing the Vikings’ first young starting quarterback in years. He and coach Kevin O’Connell discussed this early on, with the possibility of having cost control at quarterback freeing up cap space to build the rest of the team. The Vikings’ talks with Cousins about new deals in 2022, 2023, and 2024 reflected their interest in securing a long-term solution, but also their hopes of landing a young quarterback.
Heading into the 2025 free agency, the Vikings have about $60 million in cap space, the sixth-most in the NFL. This gives them significant flexibility in the market, potentially more than any time since they signed Cousins. Once again, the future of the franchise will hinge on the quarterback position.
With J.J. McCarthy returning for his second season after a torn right meniscus cost him his rookie year, the Vikings are likely to add an experienced quarterback as a safety net. While McCarthy is back to full weight and has been on the field since January, he hasn’t practiced since August, so the Vikings are unlikely to leave themselves without an option in case McCarthy faces a setback or struggles in camp. The Vikings are focused on controlling McCarthy’s development and aren’t ready to rush him into a starting role.
One option for the Vikings could be Sam Darnold, who was still in contract discussions with the team as of last week, even after they decided not to franchise tag him. While Darnold is the top available free agent quarterback, there are questions surrounding his market value.
The team may approach Darnold similarly to how they handled Cousins last year—showing interest in a modest deal while allowing him to explore other options. If Darnold leaves, Daniel Jones could be a viable candidate to serve as the veteran starter until McCarthy is ready to take over.
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