The Minnesota Vikings desperately needed a win on Sunday afternoon and responded with a 31-0 victory over the Washington Commanders. But while the Vikings were celebrating on the field, there may have been a different view in the owner’s box.
We don’t know how the Wilfs watch a game, but perhaps there was some special hot chocolate to ease the pain of a 5-8 season. One sip may have elicited the soundtrack of “More Than A Feeling,” more colors than Bill Walton’s freshman year at UCLA, and also a Christmas fever dream.
It’s a sold-out crowd at U.S. Bank Stadium for Sunday Night Football between the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers. Aaron Rodgers is warming up in a Vikings uniform. J.J. McCarthy is watching every move before giving a thumbs up to the camera and screaming, “I AM LEARNING SO MUCH RIGHT NOW!!!” The Vikings go on to a 55-0 victory behind Rodgers’s 400 yards and six touchdowns.
It doesn’t take a hot cup of an ayahuasca-infused beverage to see the vision, and even Vikings legend Anthony Barr felt the same way. While hindsight is always 20/20, it feels like a courtship to bring Rodgers to Minnesota in 2026 is inevitable, and Sunday’s game — or the remaining four games this season — may not be enough to stop it.
In case you were shoveling snow or cleaning a litter box, there were a lot of good things that came out of the win over the Commanders. McCarthy looked poised and made the right decisions while throwing three touchdowns. Kevin O’Connell rolled out the offense he should have run all along, mixing and matching personnel and pulling easy levers for his young quarterback. There was no Justin Jefferson crash out on the sidelines. It was an easy day at the office.
The only problem? It was largely irrelevant.
The Vikings are out of the playoff picture, and the conversation has shifted to what will happen this offseason. Even if Sunday’s game were a springboard for McCarthy, O’Connell, and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah would be foolish to hand him the starting quarterback job in 2026 because their jobs could be on the line.
Don’t believe me? Look back at the history of the Wilfs. While they’ve mentioned they want to win a championship, they value being “in the hunt” just as much. When the Vikings went 7-10, partially due to losing Kirk Cousins to a torn Achilles, the Wilfs didn’t even begin talks on a contract extension with their braintrust, wanting to see how the 2024 season turned out.
The Wilfs had to have been fuming seeing Max Brosmer fight for his life during last week’s start against the Seattle Seahawks and a half-empty stadium at kickoff for Sunday’s game. The current product isn’t good enough, which will likely send the Vikings back into the recycled quarterback pool.
There are a few options the Vikings could choose from, including Kyler Murray, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Mac Jones. But none of them would please ownership as much as Rodgers.
The Vikings had their chance back in the spring when Rodgers reportedly decided Minnesota was the best fit to continue his career. But the Vikings also wanted to see what they had in McCarthy, a move that would be one of the driving factors behind a rough 2025 season.
Rodgers has shown he has something left in the tank, completing 65.4% of his passes for 2,370 yards, 20 touchdowns, and seven interceptions for a Pittsburgh Steelers team that’s leading the AFC North. While the Steelers could easily bring him back if he wants to continue playing, the Vikings could also jump into the fray after seeing their young quarterback splash around in the deep end.
Take a look at the Indianapolis Colts, who were in a similar situation with Anthony Richardson. A few years removed from making him the fourth-overall pick in the NFL Draft, the Colts sought competition and brought in Daniel Jones. Even after Jones went down with a torn Achilles on Sunday, the move has to be considered a success after he beat out Richardson and guided Indianapolis to an 8-2 start before losing their third straight game to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Vikings could make a similar move by bringing in Murray or Jones. However, in both of those cases, it would give McCarthy no chance to win back his job. Instead, they should be looking for a “House of Cards” for him to topple during the offseason and training camp, and Rodgers could fit the bill.
Rodgers may be looking for a guarantee to start, but, at age 42, he only has so much leverage. Two weeks ago, he looked old and battered on the sideline. While that could lead to retirement, he may be convinced to stay for one more year if O’Connell, who is friends with Rodgers, comes calling next spring.
Then there’s also the element that trolls the Packers. No Vikings fan would ever admit it, but when Packers fans say the two games a season are the “Super Bowl” for Vikings fans, they’re absolutely right. Some fans would eat a 2-15 season if it meant beating the Packers twice. There’s a specific pleasure in getting the best of a rival that’s considered by many to be the perfect team in the perfect city with the perfect fanbase.
Sam Darnold experienced it firsthand when his teammates lifted him on their shoulders after beating the Packers last December. That may have been the moment Vikings fans bought into a team that began the year with an over/under total of 6.5.
In the minds of some fans, signing Rodgers would nag at Packers fans, even though they would probably laugh at the Vikings recycling the same storylines from the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
Those were the years that led Brett Favre to Minnesota and probably are still fresh in the Wilfs’ minds. With a season of irrelevancy circling the drain, the Wilfs may see Rodgers in the same light, which means that anything the Vikings do to close out the season may not stop an inevitable pursuit next spring.
