Should the Pittsburgh Steelers trade for Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy?
The Pittsburgh Steelers have been named an ideal landing spot for Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy by NFL analyst Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report.
Knox believes the Steelers should trade for McCarthy if the 23-year-old doesn't start for the Vikings next season.
"To be fair, there's still a chance that McCarthy can claim the Vikings' starting gig in camp. If he can't, however, Kyler Murray may never relinquish it, and McCarthy may find himself out of opportunities in Minnesota," Knox wrote. "If that occurs, he should hope to land with another team that doesn't have a clear long-term QB answer sooner than later."
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: Aaron Rodgers, Will Howard, Drew Allar and Mason Rudolph. Should Rodgers get hurt next 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.
And Rodgers is retiring from the NFL after next season. When he's gone, 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.
