MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - DECEMBER 25: Andrew van Ginkel #43 of the Minnesota Vikings celebrates his sack against the Detroit Lions during the second quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium on December 25, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Happy Father’s Day! I hope the fathers out there have a good day today. I am a father and I have already done all my chores! I think we are going out to eat tonight because my kids want to take me out to dinner to their favorite restaurant. I’ll give you one guess who gets to pay. The joys of fatherhood never end do they? I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

I know this QB competition is the main topic of discussion and will likely be that way until a decision is made. I contend that after the decision it wont stop. I have said from the jump that I did not believe they brought in Murray to ride the pine. That has been my position and I am not changing it. If he does not start I will be surprised but not disappointed. I only want to see the team win.

I have repeatedly said that JJ has been given the chance to grab ahold of the job and make it his own but has been unable to do so due to injury. I have said his accuracy needed to improve and his ability to put the ball right on the money so the receivers can get some YAC needed to get better too. None of this was unexpected or disappointing as he has yet to play a full season.

I understand where the fans of seeing JJ get another season to sink or swim are coming from though. They did draft him high and only got to see him last year. Why not see him one more year? I could (and can) still live with that but I will be worried about durability. Improving on the field will simply be interesting to watch. I have no idea why they did not give it one more shot without any of this “competition”? My only guess is that it came down from up top.

It remains to be seen what will happen but it wont stop me from being a Viking fan. I am doomed to suffer!

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I think I like Derek Barnett best as a veteran EDGE rusher signing. He turns 30 on the 25th of June and played 387 snaps last year for Houston. I think it will cost 4-5M on a one year deal. Bosa will be closer to 9-11M on a one year deal.

https://www.pff.com/nfl/free-agency?season=2026
Derek Barnett was a useful rotational pass rusher for Houston in 2025, logging 387 snaps — 209 as a pass rusher — and producing 16 pressures, including six sacks and six hits. While his sack production remains volatile, Barnett has finished plays at a high rate, ranking in the 79th percentile in sack rate over the past three seasons. He has also been dependable against the run, earning an 87th percentile run-defense grade and a 67th percentile grade on true pass rushes in that span.

Minnesota Vikings News and Links

Why the Vikings hired Andrew Healy, ‘the smartest guy I’ve worked with in sports’
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7370218/2026/06/18/andrew-healy-vikings-assistant-gm-hire/

In his 10 seasons with the Browns, Healy had learned what all the perceptive, nontraditional hires learn when they begin working in football. Making an impact, seriously reaching people, doesn’t take an exorbitant amount of brainpower, a secret formula or a sleek, new artificial intelligence model.

Instead, as another Browns staffer who raved about Healy put it, real genius lies in provoking discussion and creating tools that help leaders make better decisions.

“He was front and center in terms of building out our analytical operation,” Paul DePodesta, the Browns’ longtime chief strategy officer and now the president of baseball operations for the Colorado Rockies, said recently. “But I think more importantly, he was critical to just how we thought as an organization: How we processed information; how we made decisions.”
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“He’s a little bit like a unicorn,” Dom Borsani, a Browns offensive analyst, said. “He has the research background and history and technical aptitude. But he also has the ability to evaluate from a traditional scouting lens. And he understands coaching schemes, so he can see guys in college and interpret their assignments.”

“He might be the smartest person working in the NFL,” one Browns employee with an extensive personnel background said. “He truly has the Jacob Misiorowski fastball of minds.”

Zach Zelinsky, formerly Cleveland’s senior software developer who is now the director of baseball systems for the Arizona Diamondbacks, went even further: “He is probably the smartest guy I’ve worked with in sports.”

Who Emerges as Edge Rushing Option for Vikings in 2026?
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/emerges-edge-rushing-option-vikings-110051927.html

ESPN NFL insider Kevin Seifert discussed the biggest storylines of the Vikings’ offseason as it progresses toward the preseason and training camp. He listed lack of edge rusher help for Turner as something worth monitoring. Here’s what Seifert had to say about the pressing need at edge.

“Depth is much less evident on the defensive edge following the draft weekend trade of outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard. The Vikings are set with Andrew Van Ginkel and Dallas Turner as starters, but Turner’s excused absence for a personal matter on the second day of minicamp revealed the significant gap that exists between the next set of players at that position.

Bo Richter, Chaz Chambliss and Tyler Batty were the next three players up on the depth chart. The Vikings also experimented with defensive lineman Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, a fifth-round pick in 2025 who is 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds, on the edge. But it is a certainty that the Vikings will be on the lookout for veteran help at the position as training camp approaches.

Among the top free agents remaining on the market, according to ESPN’s Matt Bowen, are edge players Joey Bosa, Jadeveon Clowney and Haason Reddick. Leonard Floyd is also available.”

Cardinals, Vikings Get Compelling Trade Pitch Involving J.J. McCarthy
https://heavy.com/sports/nfl/minnesota-vikings/cardinals-compelling-trade-pitch-jj-mccarthy/

With many assuming that Murray will be the starting QB come Week 1, Wynston Wilcox of FanSided floated a trade pitch that would send McCarthy to the Arizona Cardinals for a fresh start, with the Vikings receiving a 2027 fifth-round pick and a 2027 seventh-round pick.

“The writing is on the wall; Kyler Murray is the new quarterback in town, and the Minnesota Vikings even brought Carson Wentz back too,” Wilcox wrote in a June 20 article.

“That should tell J.J. McCarthy everything he needs to know about his job security in Minnesota. The only good thing about McCarthy staying in Minnesota for now is that both Murray and Wentz are injury-prone; outside of that, he’s as good as traded already.”
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Moreover, Wilcox explains why McCarthy going to the Cardinals makes sense, given their QB situation, which would allow the former first-round pick not just a fresh start but an opportunity to be a starter.

“I feel like only the New York Jets would be foolish enough to take a crazy gamble on a quarterback like McCarthy, but the Cardinals also make sense for a couple of reasons,” Wilcox added. “For one, if Jacoby Brissett doesn’t get his contract situation resolved, Arizona could use this as an opportunity to find another young passer to try and develop.

“The Cardinals have a lot of holes to patch on this team, and wasting a high pick on a quarterback is a risk that isn’t necessarily worth it in my opinion. That’s why they ultimately get away with a fifth-round and seventh-round pick here.”

Joe Thomas Already Has Kyler Murray as Vikings’ QB1
One former NFL player who believes that Murray has already won the QB competition in Minnesota is former Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Joe Thomas. On...

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