Despite rookie J.J. McCarthy’s high draft pedigree, Kyler Murray’s arrival signals a shift in Minnesota. The veteran's bargain contract and proven experience make him the heavy favorite.
There will no doubt be several suspenseful position battles heading into NFL training camps across the league. The Minnesota Vikings' competition for quarterback will probably not be one of those suspenseful battles.
Barring a surprise, Kyler Murray will be the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings in 2026. The fact that the Vikings were so diligent in their search and so quick to add Murray may be the biggest indicator.
Daniel Arwas of Heavy discussed the Vikings' starting quarterback battle heading into the season. According to Arwas and others, Murray is the clear favorite to win the starting job.
"The Minnesota Vikings‘ “open” quarterback competition between J.J. McCarthy and new arrival Kyler Murray will no doubt be one of the bigger storylines around the league this offseason.
Ostensibly, the Vikings would like to see an impressively, hard-fought battle that ends with McCarthy coming out victorious purely on his own merit. After all, the franchise drafted him with the 10th overall pick back in 2024, and he still has up to three years left on his heavily discounted rookie deal.
Even with a new general manager set to take the reins ahead of the start of the new season this fall, it is certainly in Minnesota’s best interests to see the former National Champion flourish. Especially given that whilst Murray has shown the ability to be a competent starter in the league, he has never shown himself to be a truly elite player at his position. ... Nevertheless, at this point, the job is unquestionably Murray’s to lose."
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) runs out of the pocket against the Buffalo Bills in the first quarter at Highmark Stadium. Mark Konezny-Imagn ImagesIt's fair to say that if the Vikings were solid on J.J. McCarthy being the starting quarterback, they would not have added Murray to begin with. Murray is viewed by some as a risky addition. After all, the Arizona Cardinals spent a lot of money just to terminate his contract. It speaks to how Murray's tenure was going in Arizona.
Some would argue that the bargain that the Vikings got necessitated them added Murray. It would have been foolish not to add a player of his talent and production for less than $1.5 million. That said, the Vikings may not have even thought a deal like that was possible if they were not exhausting all the possibly ways they could improve at the quarterback position. Getting better at signal caller was already on their mind.
Unless we see a major improvement from McCarthy in the offseason, Murray will probably be the starter in the 2026 season. We'll see how it all unfolds over the next few months.