With JJ McCarthy set to enter his “rookie” season after missing all of 2024 with a season-ending knee injury in the preseason, a lot of speculation is swirling when it comes to his role on the Minnesota Vikings.

That speculation stems from McCarthy still working his way back off injury, and the Vikings still in Super Bowl contention. If McCarthy isn’t ready, especially with the projected rookie learning curve, then the Vikings could look to have another starting level quarterback in the room for 2025.

McCarthy has already stated he wants a fair shot to start, and if the Vikings don’t give that to him, he could look for a trade. That trade could just so happen to be to the Cleveland Browns.

The Minnesota Vikings Will Trade JJ McCarthy

The Vikings finished with a 14-3 recored, and lost in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs to the Los Angeles Rams. Sam Darnold was at quarterback, who played at the best level he has in his entire career, throwing for 4,564 yards and 36 touchdowns with just 13 interceptions while completing 66.0% of his passes. Darnold was on just a one-year deal though, which complicates things for the Vikings as Darnold will hit free agency and be coveted in a year with less than stellar quarterbacks in the draft.

After drafting JJ McCarthy in the 2024 NFL Draft, it seemed as though he was going to be the future. After suffering a torn meniscus in his knee, McCarthy has missed his entire rookie season, allowing Darnold to step up and take over. With  how Darnold has commanded the support of the locker room, and having the experience factor, it would be ideal for the Vikings to bring him back. For McCarthy, they can trade him and get immense return value to further advance their contending window. While it may not appear to make sense to trade McCarthy, he is coming off a knee injury, and how he plays after it isn’t known. This added on to the rookie learning curve that he missed during his actual rookie season will complicate things and only lead to him needing more time to be ready to fully start. The Vikings, in a competitive NFC North, don’t have the time to waste.

Cleveland Browns Trade for McCarthy

It was announced that Deshaun Watson, who looked as though he was going to take the starting role back in 2025 after a contract restructure, had suffered a setback in his ACL recovery and could miss next season. The Browns showed they don’t have an answer at quarterback currently, and need to figure out the future of the position.

With Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, the current general manager of the Vikings, coming from the Browns, there are already ties to the organization. With McCarthy, he would bring youth, and upside to the quarterback position that would allow the Browns to fully reset. McCarthy, before the injury, in the one preseason game he played, put up 188 yards and two touchdowns with just one interception while completing 11-of-18 passes.

At Michigan, McCarthy finished his career with 6,231 yards and 48 touchdowns over 481 completions with just 11 interceptions. His ability to read defenses and anticipate throws helps him elevate his game towards being a top quarterback. The ability McCarthy has to navigate the pocket to extend plays while throwing on the run outside of the pocket continuously helped Michigan’s offense as well.

McCarthy has great leadership skills, and for a team like the 49ers, he’d be ideal. McCarthy would operate the Kevin Stefanski offense perfectly while also elevating it further with his skill set. With his accuracy and ability to create plays outside the pocket when needed, he is an ideal trade candidate for the Browns.