The Minnesota Vikings took a long and hard look at adding quarterback Aaron Rodgers this offseason before backing away in favor of second-year signal-caller J.J. McCarthy.
On Wednesday, April 2, Kevin Seifert of ESPN broke down the conversations between Rodgers and Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell in an article about what’s next for the four-time MVP.
“He happened to be at a point in time in his career where he was free to have some real dialogue about what his future may look like,” O’Connell said, per Seifert. “And we happened to be one of those teams that he reached out to. And I have had a personal relationship with him going back since my playing days.”
Seifert added more detail from interviews he had with O’Connell this week at the NFL owners’ meetings in Palm Beach, Florida.
Aaron and I have had a relationship for a long time. He initially reached out and we were able to have some conversations. We were on the hunt to always improve our football team and put our football team in the best possible chance to win.
You’re constantly acknowledging and evaluating all opportunities that may be out there. And certainly that was one that I found to be interesting, just because it speaks to what our place has kind of turned into for quarterbacks, which I know [general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah] and I are very proud of, and our coaching staff is very proud of.
Vikings Strongly Considered Adding Aaron Rodgers, Shelving J.J. McCarthy for Another Season
GettyFormer New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Seifert also revealed how serious the Vikings were about potentially adding Rodgers to what one can argue is a Super Bowl roster in Minnesota.
Sam Darnold led the team to a 14-3 record, one win over the Detroit Lions shy of the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC playoffs. All of the meaningful skill-position players are back from last year’s team, as are many of the defensive playmakers. The Vikings also added serious talent along the offensive and defensive lines in free agency.
“Rodgers and O’Connell spoke multiple times, and O’Connell relayed those conversations to key decision makers,” Seifert wrote. “That prompted several days of discussions about what it would look like to add Rodgers and push back McCarthy’s timetable to the 2026 season.”
Ultimately, the team chose to make use of the value it possesses on McCarthy’s cheap rookie contract, betting on him as capable enough to develop into a championship-level QB within the next year or two under O’Connell’s tutelage.
Aaron Rodgers Now Likely to Land With Steelers
GettyFree agent quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers’ interest in the Vikings put a halt to free agency at the quarterback position around much of the league for several days.
The New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers both had standing offers to Rodgers to come in and be their starter, despite the fact that he turns 42 years old near the end of the upcoming season. The Giants eventually went in another direction, signing former Steelers QB Russell Wilson and former Cleveland Browns backup Jameis Winston to deals.
Pittsburgh remains optimistic that Rodgers will join the franchise for at least this season, as the team has Mason Rudolph as the only viable QB on the roster as of Wednesday and owns the No. 21 pick in the first round of the upcoming NFL draft, which likely isn’t high enough to get them one of the top two, or even top three, QB prospects in what is already a weak class at the position.
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