The Minnesota Vikings crafted a quick succession plan for Kirk Cousins at quarterback last offseason, signing upside-veteran Sam Darnold in free agency and doubling down with phenom prospect J.J. McCarthy in the draft.
The Vikings enter 2025 absolutely loaded at the offensive skill positions, and their defense should continue to thrive with star coordinator Brian Flores set to return for a third season. NFL analysts are questioning, however, if Minnesota’s current path at quarterback is enough to capitalize on the franchise’s best Super Bowl window in years.
Joshua Northcutt of The Wright Way Network is among those who believe the Vikings must upgrade at QB now. With Los Angeles Rams superstar Matthew Stafford currently gauging his market value with other teams, Northcutt is urging the Vikings to go all-in on 2025 by swinging a blockbuster trade with the Rams.
Here was his take a potential franchise-altering decision:
Super Bowl windows aren’t open long for markets like Minnesota, so making a bold move, similar to the Rams’ 2021 strategy, is important if the Vikings want to win their first Lombardi trophy in franchise history.
Matthew Stafford has already proven he can lead a team to a championship and succeed in a system like the Vikings’. So, while McCarthy has a higher potential and Darnold has shown some promise, neither brings the proven leadership that Stafford does. Having that kind of leadership will be key for the Vikings if they want to build on their strong, but disappointing, 14-3 season.
Of all the perceived landing spots for Stafford, the Vikings actually make a lot of sense.
Stafford has a history — and a Super Bowl ring — with Kevin O’Connell from their time together in L.A., and O’Connell comes from the Sean McVay coaching tree. With superstar talent like Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson already in place, it’s easy to envision Stafford hitting the ground running in a hypothetical move to Minnesota.
As for potential sticking points, the Rams would have to play ball here. These two teams just met in the NFC wild-card round, and the Vikings won 14 games with Sam Darnold at QB in 2024. It would likely take a massive haul to convince McVay and the Rams to send their starting quarterback to an obvious NFC contender.
The Vikings, meanwhile, have next to no draft capital to facilitate a “massive haul” for Stafford. They’re projected to have four total selections in the 2025 NFL Draft (including a third-round comp pick for Kirk Cousins), so unless they’re sending J.J. McCarthy or Dallas Turner back to Los Angeles (highly unlikely), it’s hard to see a blockbuster deal coming to fruition.
The other layer to a Stafford trade is the contract. He’d be looking to sign a lucrative extension with his new team, which Spotrac projects at two years, $83.5 million. While the Vikings have plenty of salary cap space, they have some major free agents to deal with — Darnold, RB Aaron Jones, CB Byron Murphy Jr. and safety Cam Bynum, to name a few — and have likely been planning around McCarthy’s rookie-scale contract all along.
Stafford to the Vikings might make perfect sense in a vacuum, but Minnesota’s current situation makes it feel like a long-shot destination.
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