rewrite this title NFL analyst Daniel Jeremiah delivers brutal Steelers take on JJ McCarthy amid Vikings QB dilemma

There’s a lot of uncertainty around the future of J.J. McCarthy in Minnesota following the team’s move at the quarterback position this offseason. The Vikings brought in Kyler Murray in a veteran minimum deal, while also re-signing Carson Wentz, creating a lot of competition.

In the last couple of days, McCarthy has been linked to the Pittsburgh Steelers via trade, marking a potential option for him. The team is still waiting on Aaron Rodgers decision, but continues to explore other options, including the draft, as the Mike McCarthy era is set to take off.

While discussing the quarterback situation in Pittsburgh on the “New Football America” podcast, Dave Dameshek threw three options of Rodgers, Kirk Cousins and J.J. McCarthy to NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah. The analyst wasn’t open to the idea of experimenting with the young quarterback.

“That points me toward Kirk Cousins as the best option there,” Jeremiah said. “You can get a nice little two-year window, because when you bring back T.J. Watt, when you bring back [Cameron] Heyward, that’s not, ‘Hey guys, we’re going to fool around and see if we can experiment with this J.J. McCarthy thing and see if this hits for us here.’

“They’ve built up the offensive and defensive line really well. They’ve got a lot of good young players on this team, but this feels like, ‘Hey, this is kind of a decision for the last ride of this group.’ Then we’ll go on and try to find the next one.”

Analyst believes J.J. McCarthy could get traded

Alec Lewis, the Vikings beat reporter for The Athletic, discussed whether J.J. McCarthy could become a trade candidate later this year in his article last Friday. This is particularly if he winds up as the No. 3 quarterback on Minnesota’s depth chart, which is now a strong possibility.

“[Trading McCarthy] cannot be completely ruled out,“ Lewis wrote. “Two factors matter in the overall calculus: How perturbed are McCarthy and his camp by the Murray signing? And what would other teams offer?

“The Vikings have publicly reiterated their feelings about McCarthy and that they see an advantage in giving him competition. They aren’t completely all in for 2026, evidenced by their measured approach in free agency. But they’re also not punting on a season that must reestablish their standing as formidable foes in the NFC North.”

J.J. McCarthy’s tenure with the Vikings has been a challenging one. The 2024 first-round pick missed his entire rookie season before getting limited to just 10 games in 2025. He threw for 1,632 yards and 11 touchdowns last season as Minnesota missed out on the playoffs.

Edited by Farouk Yusuf