Could the Pittsburgh Steelers trade for Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy?
The Pittsburgh Steelers were named among the top landing spots for Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy by NFL analyst Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report.
Minnesota named Kyler Murray its starting quarterback, so McCarthy may need a change of scenery to restart his career.
Aaron Rodgers will retire from the NFL after this season, making the Steelers an ideal landing spot for McCarthy.
"Pittsburgh would also give McCarthy a wonderful opportunity to compete with Howard and Allar next offseason," Knox wrote. "In the meantime, the former Wolverines star would get to learn under one of the modern era's best quarterbacks and a proven offensive head coach in Mike McCarthy.
McCarthy appeared in 10 games for the Vikings last season after missing his entire rookie campaign because of a knee injury. The Michigan product put up 1,632 passing yards, 11 passing touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He completed 57.6% of his passes.
Pittsburgh has four QBs right now: Rodgers, Will Howard, Drew Allar and Mason Rudolph. Should Rodgers get hurt this season, Allar and Howard are ahead of Rudolph on the depth chart.
We saw Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield flourish with new teams. Maybe that could happen with McCarthy. After all, he was a star in college. The talent is there.
When Rodgers is gone next season, the Steelers can have Allar and McCarthy battle it out for the QB1 spot in 2027.
Rodgers put up 3,322 passing yards, 24 passing touchdowns and seven interceptions last season. The future Hall of Famer completed 65.7% of his passes.
The Steelers won the AFC North in 2025, but they lost to the Houston Texans in the wild-card round of the playoffs. Former Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy was hired this offseason after Mike Tomlin stepped down.
Mike McCarthy and Rodgers won Super Bowl XLV against the Steelers as members of the Packers.
"I think we were close last year," Rodgers said. "I think we added some good pieces. I felt like we needed a lineman probably at some point, drafted a guy in the first round that I like. I thought we needed somebody who could work in the slot. Obviously, Germie (Bernard), being picked there, is a guy they think can do it. Bring in (Michael) Pittman, was obviously a good addition. Rico Dowdle, Jamel (Dean) on defense. (Jaquan) Brisker as well, so a lot of good pieces added to the mix."
Let's see if the Steelers trade for JJ McCarthy. Learning from Rodgers and Mike McCarthy could be what JJ needs to jump-start his NFL career.
