Vikings backup quarterback pitch lands $4.3 million former starter to work with J.J. McCarthy

Kevin O’Connell kicked off NFL Draft week with a Monday morning press conference, and the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings addressed what has been the elephant in the room all offseason: backup quarterback.

While it’s been well known since the start of the new league year that J.J. McCarthy will take the reins as Minnesota’s starter this season, the search for his backup is expected to continue until after the draft, which will be held Thursday through Saturday this week. The Vikings are currently projected to receive multiple 2026 compensatory picks, including a top-100 pick for losing Sam Darnold to Seattle, so the team is expected to wait until after the league’s April 29 comp pick deadline to sign its next free agent.

“We’ve been patient, we’ve really evaluated a lot of different ways to do that,” O’Connell said. “Potential trades, free agency and the draft. We are going through the process of figuring out who is the player we really want to solidify that room with.”

With free agents currently on ice, GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah could address the QB2 position via trade, with names such as Sam Howell, Aidan O’Connell and Kirk Cousins generating some buzz via the nonstop NFL rumor mill. Andre Castillo of Sportskeeda, for example, predicts the Vikings could land O’Connell from the Las Vegas Raiders on the cheap, projecting the competition to be a 2026 fourth-round pick.

“Aidan O’Connnell may obviously not be on the former national champion’s level,” said Castillo, in reference to McCarthy, “but he should prove a capable backup.”

O’Connell will be an interesting name to watch around the draft, as the price tag could be cheap on a 26-year-old player with 17 career NFL starts under his belt. Las Vegas has a new regime and could be looking to pair starter Geno Smith with a more comparable backup, making O’Connell and his $4.3 million rookie contract a potential trade asset on Day 3 of the draft.

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The Vikings could be buyers here, especially if the cost is late-round pick in 2026 (we'd prefer sixth round or later). After losing both Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones in free agency, their best options have dried up considerably, and O’Connell could be viewed as not only a decent QB2 option behind McCarthy for 2025, but a potential future asset that could be developed and traded next season, which will be the final year of O'Connell's rookie deal.

To Castillo’s point, trading for O’Connell wouldn’t be the sexiest move, but neither would trading for Howell, or signing the basically retired Ryan Tannehill. Aidan O’Connell at least has a baseline of NFL experience for Kevin O’Connell — no relation, by the way — to work with in what could be the team’s next behind-the-scenes QB project.

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