The Minnesota Vikings have several questions to answer as the NFL offseason continues, none of them bigger than at the quarterback position. The first year under center for young starter JJ McCarthy was by and large a disaster, with many speculating that the Vikings could look to bring in a veteran this offseason to step in and buy McCarthy more time to get comfortable at the NFL level.
On Tuesday, it was announced that the Arizona Cardinals would be parting ways with Kyler Murray via a release, and now, speculation is building that the Vikings could be an interested party, per Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports.
“…if the Vikings can't clear the cap space — and because the Colts hold first-refusal rights for Jones — the name circulating the strongest around Minnesota is quarterback Kyler Murray,” reported Jones.
“…Murray can have his choice of teams since it's assumed he will sign for the veteran minimum of $1.3 million. Murray would immediately compete with J.J. McCarthy this offseason for starting quarterback rights,” he added.
Murray had some flashes of stardom throughout his career with the Cardinals after being drafted there with the number one pick, but injuries and overall regression ultimately stunted his tenure in the desert before it could truly take off.
The free agent certainly wouldn't fix all of Minnesota's problems on the offensive side of the ball, and as Jones noted, it's not even a guarantee that he would end up getting the starting nod over McCarthy if they were to bring him in. After all, Minnesota did spend a highly valuable first round pick on McCarthy two years ago, and is incentivized to give the young quarterback every opportunity they can to prove himself on the NFL level.
In any case, the NFL free agency period is slated to open up on March 11.
