Almost two months since the season ended, the Minnesota Vikings are converging on Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine. The event is the official kickoff to the offseason. General managers, coaches, and perhaps some owners will dine on some spicy shrimp cocktails at St. Elmo’s, talk free agency in a dark corner booth, and watch prospects attempt to raise their draft stock.
It’s an exciting time of the year. But if you’re a Vikings fan, this year feels different.
Arriving at the combine, they have no idea who their starting quarterback will be for the 2026 season. The usual existential dread that comes with being a Vikings fan has been kicked up a notch because it feels like something bad is about to happen.
Let’s go back a few months. While the Vikings finished 9-8, the disappointment from last year lingers. Before winning five straight games against teams either ready for Cancun or resting their starters for a playoff run, Minnesota was a 4-8 team that the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks shut out.
You may have heard that Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold led the Vikings to a 14-3 record in 2024. Since his departure, heads have started to roll, with Kwesi Adofo-Mensah getting fired one month after the season ended and Kevin O’Connell next on the chopping block, pending the results of 2026.
The Vikings have since hired Rob Brzezinski as the interim general manager, but the prevailing belief is that O’Connell is at the controls in job-preservation mode. That typically doesn’t turn out well for most teams in this position, and it already feels ominous. Neither O’Connell nor Brzezinski will hold a podium press conference at the combine, opting for separate on-the-record sessions and a pair of interviews with KFXN’s Paul Allen and Pete Bercich.
The move eliminates the word-salad buffet that the duo would serve up during those sessions. However, it also shows the fragility of the front office situation. One wrong quote and the operation blows up in smoke. With most of the players they are interested in either under contract or seeking big free-agent deals, the Vikings could lose leverage in what they want to accomplish.
Then there is a deeper look at the quarterback position. J.J. McCarthy floundered in his first full season as a starter, and there’s even some steam from Yahoo’s Charles Robinson that the Vikings could trade him under the right circumstances.
McCarthy had a whirlwind first season as a starter. He had his first child, concrete drying, and reps while walking the dog. A broken hand and a watered-down late-season offense punctuated his 2025. It’s possible the Vikings could throw in the towel in the same way the Arizona Cardinals dumped Josh Rosen after one season as the starter.
From there, the Vikings will look to add their own quarterback. Mac Jones is the top option according to The Athletic’s Alec Lewis. But the San Francisco 49ers are likely going to fleece the Vikings for everything they have, knowing they may be screwed if they keep McCarthy.
If Jones isn’t available, the Vikings go further down the list. Kyler Murray is a flashy but somehow underwhelming option after replacing Rosen in Arizona. Derek Carr is flirting with the Vikings despite posting just two winning seasons in 11 years as a starting quarterback. Trading for Anthony Richardson feels like adding two McCarthys to the roster. If all else fails, the Vikings can try to troll the Green Bay Packers by signing Malik Willis or convincing Aaron Rodgers to hold off on retirement for one more year.
And that’s just the quarterback position. The rest of the roster feels like it’s walking a tight rope, old enough to collect a pension but good enough to satisfy the burning desire to go 9-8. Looking at draft boards, it’s hard to find a prospect that could be a transformational piece. Given the team’s lack of recent draft success, it makes Clemson defensive tackle Peter Woods feel more like Peter Griffin.
The Vikings will also enter a tunnel of contract restructures that figure to take place in Indianapolis, making what appeared to be a disgruntled team at the end of last season even more cantankerous heading into 2026. They will likely restructure T.J. Hockenson, Christian Darrisaw, and even Justin Jefferson, all so they can dive headfirst into a weak free-agent class.
Perhaps I’m being too dramatic, and the Vikings will find the right pieces to put them on the right track going into next season. But it’s amplified considering things are looking up for all three divisional rivals.
The Detroit Lions finished in last place in the NFC North, but they still have many of the pieces that helped open their championship window in 2023. Time is running out, and Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph are managing serious injuries. Still, they have some of the best high-end talent in the division with Aidan Hutchinson, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Jahmyr Gibbs, plus a last-place schedule that could help them bounce back next year.
The Chicago Bears also feel like they’re on the rise after winning their first division title since 2018. While there are some issues to clean up, Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson’s partnership seems to be working. They’ll be looking for more pieces to add to the puzzle in Indianapolis.
Then there’s Minnesota’s ultimate measuring stick, the Packers. Vikings fans took pleasure in watching their 9-3-1 start crater down with a five-game losing streak. They may have found even more when Matt LaFleur brought most of his offensive staff back for next season. But the Packers still have Micah Parsons and Tucker Kraft, who should return early next season from torn ACLs. A free agent or a draft pick could put them back on a Super Bowl trajectory, leaving the Vikings in a class of their own.
Maybe Jones is the answer to Minnesota’s quarterback problem. Perhaps McCarthy is somewhere meditating, ready to go Super Saiyan on everyone who’s posted a “Nine” meme in the past year. That diamond in the rough could always be lurking somewhere in free agency. Maybe the coaching staff will prove that Adofo-Mensah was the problem after all.
But it’s more likely the Vikings throw a boatload of picks for an average quarterback or sign a free agent with a contract that would make Dave Ramsey’s head explode. At a time when fans are bristling with possibilities, the Vikings are making them dream of the mundane, which sucks most of the excitement out of this week’s combine.
