Opinion: Discussing a QB Trade the Vikings Should Want to Make

The Minnesota Vikings are being linked to several quarterbacks this offseason. The latest is causing a stir among those who follow the team.

Bill Barnwell projects that the Vikings will trade for San Francisco 49ers backup Mac Jones who shined this season in place of starting quarterback Brock Purdy. Jones performed well in 2025, but that is not stopping some from voicing displeasure with the potential trade.

Barnwell described why the move could happen.

"The Vikings can't afford to leave J.J. McCarthy an uncontested path to their starting quarterback job again in 2026. He was a disaster for most of the season, and though he put together a better stretch to end 2025, that four-game run came against the Commanders (who were 30th in EPA per play against pass dropbacks), Cowboys (31st), Giants (17th, in a game where McCarthy threw 14 passes) and Packers (21st, McCarthy was facing second- and third-stringers for most of the game). ...

This would be sort of a complicated trade, but the Vikings would be adding a quarterback who showed some of his upside in San Francisco. Jones posted a 62.3 Total QBR during his lone season with the 49ers, coming in a little more than 10 points behind Brock Purdy's 73.0 mark. Jones is due just $4.7 million in 2026, which will be the final year of his contract."

Jones may not have been as efficient a passer as Purdy, but he was certainly effective. The quarterback threw for 2,151 yards, 13 touchdowns and six interceptions with just eight starting opportunities. In a 17-game season, Jones would easily be on pace for over 4,000 yards at that rate. Given the Niners' issues with injuries at skill positions, San Francisco could not have asked for more from Jones.

Some suggest trading for the quarterback is the wrong move. And given what the team may have to give up in adding Jones, it's easy to see why there are mixed reactions to trading for him. But after watching Sam Darnold leave the Vikings to go win a Super Bowl at quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, what value would you place on adding a player like Darnold in Mac Jones?

If Minnesota is able to add Jones or a quarterback like Arizona's Kyler Murray, it's difficult not to see it as a victory in the scheme of a pivotal offseason for the Vikings. And while Murray might be the preference, adding Jones could set the Vikings up to be where they would have liked to be: 14-3 again, like in 2024, and in position to push for a postseason run.