As J.J. McCarthy’s future in Minnesota wavers, a reunion with his biggest advocate, Jim Harbaugh, could provide the spark needed to revitalize the former national champion's career.
Jim Harbaugh has spent years making it nearly impossible to exaggerate how much he believes in J.J. McCarthy.
Harbaugh even saw some Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen in McCarthy.
Then there was the endorsement that didn't require an NFL comparison at all.
"I would follow him to hell and back," Harbaugh said.
Two years after Minnesota drafted McCarthy No. 10 overall, his future with the Vikings is suddenly uncertain enough to make all that praise relevant again.
The Chargers are about 2,000 miles away.
Minnesota should make the call.
McCarthy survived Sunday's roster cuts, leaving the Vikings as one of only four NFL teams carrying four quarterbacks on their initial 53-man roster.
Kyler Murray is the starter. Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer are also sticking around. McCarthy, once expected to become Minnesota's franchise quarterback, suddenly occupies a much less certain place in the equation.
NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah already knows where he'd call.
"When I look at the landscape and really just across the street here, Jim Harbaugh had a lot of success with J.J. McCarthy," Jeremiah said. "Is that a phone call you're at least making to see what that market might look like?"
Yes.
Los Angeles kept only Justin Herbert and Trey Lance on its initial 53. McCarthy would arrive as a developmental backup behind one of the NFL's established franchise quarterbacks while reuniting with the coach who helped turn him into a national champion.
Harbaugh knows exactly what worked at Michigan.
McCarthy went 27-1 as the Wolverines' starter. His lone loss came against TCU in the College Football Playoff following the 2022 season. He responded by going 15-0 the next year, beating Ohio State, Alabama and Washington on the way to Michigan's first national championship since 1997.
That version of McCarthy convinced Harbaugh he belonged alongside the best quarterbacks in the 2024 draft.
Minnesota hasn't seen enough of it.
McCarthy lost his entire rookie season to a knee injury, then battled injuries while making 10 starts in 2025. The Vikings responded this offseason by signing Murray and giving McCarthy an opportunity to compete with him.
Kevin O'Connell ended the competition after 10 days of training camp practices.
Murray won the job.
That decision changed the conversation around McCarthy. NFL.com reported that speculation during the preseason included Minnesota potentially moving him to an interested team, specifically identifying Harbaugh's Chargers as a possibility.
Ian Rapoport provided the necessary reality check Friday. McCarthy hasn't requested a trade, and Rapoport said, as far as he knew, there was "no trade in the works."
Minnesota has plenty of incentive to remain patient.
McCarthy is 23 and still playing on his rookie contract. O'Connell has built his reputation in part through quarterback development, and another year inside his offense could still benefit a player whose first two NFL seasons hardly followed the intended plan.
The Vikings also paid a real price to get him. Minnesota sent picks Nos. 11, 129 and 157 to the Jets for Nos. 10 and 203 before selecting McCarthy.
His current trade value wouldn't resemble that investment ... but it wouldn't have to.
McCarthy's future had become uncertain enough that NFL.com noted speculation he could be traded or even released before Minnesota ultimately kept him on its initial 53.
Once releasing a former top-10 pick enters the conversation, almost any return starts looking better.
A late-round pick from Los Angeles wouldn't salvage Minnesota's original investment. It would give the Vikings something for a player they once traded up to select No. 10 overall rather than cutting ties entering Year 3 with nothing coming back.
That's hardly the ending Minnesota envisioned when McCarthy walked across the draft stage in Detroit.
It could still beat the alternative.
Most importantly, nobody has to guess what Harbaugh thinks of the player.
He's spent years telling us.
Minnesota just needs to find out what all those adjectives are worth in draft capital.
