The Minnesota Vikings are almost certain to bring a new quarterback aboard this offseason.
Rumors have included all kinds of names, including Kyler Murray, Tua Tagovailoa, Geno Smith, Kirk Cousins and Aaron Rodgers.
Smith has the potential to be the most ironic, and he also seems to be a real possibility.
“Smith possibly joining the Vikings has been underplayed as a pairing in league circles, but it makes a lot of sense,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote in a new article this weekend. “He’s due $18.5 million in 2026 guarantees but has another $8 million that guarantees on the third day of the new league year. He also offers ‘bridge QB’ cover if the team doesn’t want to bail on McCarthy and show a true QB competition, even if veiled.”
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Coming off a nightmare season with the Las Vegas Raiders, Smith is seemingly about to be replaced by the presumed No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza.
That leaves the Raiders trying to find a taker for Smith. His acquisition hasn’t been what the Raiders hoped for when they snagged him from the Seattle Seahawks last offseason.
And oh, the irony.
The Vikings let Sam Darnold leave, and the Seahawks signed him as a preferred QB option to Smith, which sent Smith to Vegas and gave McCarthy the runway in Minnesota. Darnold won a Super Bowl, but Smith and McCarthy both struggled.
That has brought Vegas and Minnesota to this point in time, when the Vikings probably feel they need another quarterback to at the very least give McCarthy a training camp battle.
Smith was good in 2024 for the Seahawks, and maybe Kevin O’Connell could bring that version of Smith out again.
