After a QB carousel of former 10th Pick J.J. McCarthy, Super Bowl LII champion Carson Wentz, and rookie Max Brosmer, the Minnesota Vikings had a major hole at the quarterback position. Despite having very solid pieces around the position, including superstar receiver Justin Jefferson, the Vikings seemed to be ‘a quarterback away’ from contention. Their only major addition of the off-season was an attempt to solve said issue- signing former first-overall pick & 2019 Offensive Rookie of the Year Kyler Murray from the Arizona Cardinals.
Murray spent eight seasons with the Cardinals but played just 87 games due to a brutal injury history. His scrambler playstyle creates more risks for injuries, and he’s certainly gone through it. After playing just 5 games & being benched in favor of veteran Jacoby Brissett in 2025, the Cardinals ultimately decided to part ways with their QB following a disappointing tenure. In his time with Arizona, Murray suffered a grade 2 ankle sprain in 2021 (three games missed), a hamstring strain in 2022 (two games missed), and a grade 3 ACL tear in 2022, which kept him sidelined for the rest of the 2022 season and over half of 2023. Finally, this past year, Murray came down with pedal foot, which sidelined him for 11 games. However, conspiracy theories suggest that the Cardinals’ medical team overstated the severity of the injury, and that Murray could’ve returned to action much sooner, but the team wanted to keep starting Brissett.
If Murray can stay healthy, he’d become easily the best option the Vikings have. Unfortunately, McCarthy was statistically one of the worst quarterbacks in the league. McCarthy managed a measly 35.6 QBR and had twelve interceptions in just ten games. It’s up in the air whether McCarthy is still on track to be the franchise guy after his abysmal first season as a starter.
Comparing Kyler Murray to Sam Darnold, who just won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks after breaking out with Minnesota the previous season, is inevitable. Murray is entering a very similar situation as Darnold: Both picked up on one-year ‘prove it’ deals, both in a competition with J.J. McCarthy, and both ended with their previous teams on relatively bad terms. The Vikings’ resurgence with Darnold should bring cautious optimism for Murray’s future. Murray’s best season was in 2020, when he threw for 3,971 yards and ran for 819 more on the ground. He also threw for the most amount of passing touchdowns (26) and ran for an impressive eleven more rushing touchdowns. In 2021, however, Murray led Arizona to his one and only playoff birth. They lost in the wild-card round to the Los Angeles Rams 34-11, but it was a good learning opportunity for Murray. In the same season, Murray was selected for the Pro Bowl. Obviously, it’s worth noting that his only playoff experience was five years ago, but if Murray could just give Minnesota, at the very least, okayish quarterback play, the Vikings could find themselves contending again.
