Vikings First Choice at QB Wasn’t JJ McCarthy, Sam Darnold or Kirk Cousins

We think we know who the Minnesota Vikings starting quarterback will be, come week one of the 2024 NFL regular season. Head coach Kevin O’Connell, and those inside TCO Performance Center in Eagan, have made it very clear that they expect Sam Darnold to be under center on September 8 vs the New York Giants.

Could that change during training camp (which begins next week)? Yes, because if No. 10 overall pick J.J. McCarthy somehow clears all of the hurdles KOC has put between the rookie and playing time in 2024, then it would come down to who gives the Vikings a better chance to win.

In other words, J.J.’s future playing time depends on his own development, and how quickly he can go through the stages that KOC has set up for him. Then, it’d be J.J. vs Sam. From there, may the best QB win. According to Kevin Seifert (ESPN), though, it doesn’t sound like Darnold or McCarthy were Minnesota’s first choice at QB. Neither was Kirk Cousins.

Minnesota Vikings QB Plan A was… Justin Herbert?

Seifert is reporting that, even prior to sitting down at the negotiating table with Cousins, Kwesi & Co had approached Jim Harbaugh and the new Los Angeles Chargers regime, during the NFL Scouting Combine (late February), to see if they’d be willing to part with 26-year-old quarterback, Justin Herbert.

The Vikings were already considering their next steps. At the combine, they checked with the Chargers on Herbert’s availability. It was the kind of call many NFL teams make to a team that has changed leadership. Adofo-Mensah had worked with new Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh when they were both with the 49ers from 2013 to ’14, and was well aware of Harbaugh’s preference for a run-based offensive scheme. The Chargers did not want to move Herbert, but the Vikings’ interest was a sign for league observers about Cousins’ looming availability.

Kevin Seifert – ESPN

While Kwesi tapping on his old pal Jim Harbaugh didn’t pay off, I have to commend our general manager for identifying a possible opportunity, and trying to pounce. Nabbing Herbert, if the run-heavy Harbaugh decided to hit the reset button, would have completely changed the trajectory of this Minnesota Vikings organization.

Kevin O’Connell turns gaze back to Kirk Cousins + NFL Draft

All QB questions would be out the window. No more, ‘can JJ play at this level?’ or ‘is there a good QB inside of Sam Darnold?’. Then, after LAC rebuffed Minnesota’s inquiries on Herbert, Kevin O’Connell was forced to have a difficult ‘half-in, half-out’ conversation with Kirk Cousins, regarding the Vikings’ long-term replacement plan for him.

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The message: we need you to hold down the fort until our new franchise QB, whoever that is, shows he is ready to take your job. Kwesi and KOC were ready to guarantee Cousins the starting job for the 2024 season, and nothing beyond that.

O’Connell leveled with Cousins after the season: The Vikings’ 3-6 record after his injury had exposed the dangers of not looking beyond a 36-year-old quarterback. With their best draft position (No. 11 overall) in a decade, the team had decided to tap into a deep 2024 quarterback class and find its next starter. But no one — not ownership, not Adofo-Mensah and not O’Connell — wanted the rookie to play right away. Cousins would be their starter in 2024 and possibly longer.

Kevin Seifert – ESPN

Related: Cam Akers Didn’t Re-sign with the Vikings After All

Of course, Kirk Cousins wound up with the Atlanta Falcons. But we knew how that Kirk + KOC meeting went, long before free agency opened. Shortly after speaking with Cousins, KOC did his infamous 2024 NFL Combine interview, where a somber, sad-toned Vikings head coach pretty much told the world that he was about to lose his QB1.

"I know Kirk is going to go through a full process. He's a process guy. And hopefully we continue to be a strong part in that process and we figure out a way to keep him a Minnesota Viking." – Head Coach Kevin O'Connell on @KirkCousins8

📺: @NFLNetwork Saturday + Sunday pic.twitter.com/kBUaxN7MPM

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) March 2, 2024

But had KOC gotten it his way, Burger King style, it would have been Justin Herbert pulling up at TCO Performance Center this weekend, not McCarthy, Darnold or Cousins.