The Minnesota Vikings have undergone a lot of change this offseason. The most important of those changes happened when Kirk Cousins left the Vikings for the Falcons during free agency. Minnesota replaced Cousins in the short term with Sam Darnold and in the long term with rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Jefferson is a big believer in McCarthy as the Vikings' next franchise QB.
Justin Jefferson appeared on Tuesday's episode of The Rich Eisen Show, where he discussed his former and future QBs. Jefferson started by heaping praise on his rookie QB.
“They want me to be that guy that J.J. can always talk to and ask questions,” Jefferson said. “He’s definitely that type of kid. [McCarthy] definitely wants to ask questions. He wants to learn how to be a top quarterback. He wants to learn how to become a problem in this league.”
Jefferson said that he's told McCarthy not to worry too much about expectations. Instead, he suggested to McCarthy that he “carry [himself] with confidence.” Having one of the league's best wide receivers in Justin Jefferson should help McCarthy gain confidence in the NFL.
He also spent some time talking about former Vikings QB Kirk Cousins. Jefferson said he wasn't too surprised when Kirk Cousins decided to leave the Vikings for the Falcons in free agency. He said that he is “grateful for what [Cousins] has brought to me” over the last four years.
“I always knew Kirk was going to do whatever he needs to do for his business-wise. I just knew that everything wasn’t the way he wanted it to be here, Jefferson said.
“Especially just with having to pay me and having to pay so many other different guys, I feel like he just wanted a new start, a new opportunity to start with Atlanta and a clean slate. I’m not mad at him at all for that.”
Adam Thielen gets real on J.J. McCarthy's accuracy after workout
Vikings rookie QB J.J. McCarthy also received some praise recently from a former fan favorite in Minnesota. Former Viking Adam Thielen praised J.J. McCarthy's accuracy in a recent interview with KFAN's Paul Allen.
“He’s a great kid,” the 33-year-old told KFAN FM's Paul Allen, via Janik Eckardt of PurplePTSD. “You don’t realize that he’s only 21 years old when you’re talking to him, when you’re hanging around. He’s got a maturity about him that you can tell that goes beyond his age.
“And, you know, that’s step number one as a QB, to have that maturity level, to have that kind of poise or kind of that aura around you that just feels like confidence and just a good, good person.”
Thielen knows what he's talking about because he recently had a workout with McCarthy. Both players were in the Minneapolis area a few weeks ago and were easily able to facilitate the workout.
Normally this kind of news would create trade rumors about the Vikings reuniting with Adam Thielen. However, the structure of Thielen's contract makes moving him difficult.
The Carolina Panthers are committed to Thielen this season. He has a $10 million cap hit with $13.17 million in dead cap if released. Releasing Thielen would actually cost the Panthers roughly $3 million in cap space this year.
Vikings should focus on the fact that Thielen has vouched for McCarthy having a bright future in Minnesota.
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