The Vikings have meticulously crafted a quarterback succession plan that aligns with their first real taste of salary cap flexibility in a long time.
RandBall: It seems obvious the Vikings should say no to Aaron Rodgers. Why hasn’t it happened?
A lot of Vikings fans are living in a state somewhere between repulsion and denial as the Aaron Rodgers saga continues into another week.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 17, 2025 at 4:22PM
And somehow along the way, they managed to win 13-plus games in two of the first three seasons under coach Kevin O’Connell. That he and GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah were able to squeeze that much success out of the “competitive rebuild” phase of their plan, before they were able to give the keys to a hand-picked quarterback, has earned Vikings decisionmakers and O’Connell specifically a tremendous amount of good will with the fan base.
Are they really thinking about squandering all of it with one move?
That’s one of the questions that keeps popping into my head as I consider how links between Aaron Rodgers and Minnesota still haven’t gone away even now that it’s been one week since NFL teams could begin negotiating with free agents.
It seems logical and obvious to many of us that the Vikings should just say no to any possible link-up with Rodgers, the polarizing 41-year-old QB fresh off a disastrous two-year run with the New York Jets.
So why hasn’t that happened yet?
Patrick Reusse and I talked about a lot of things on Monday’s Daily Delivery podcast, but he didn’t want to get into the speculation spiral on Rodgers. I’ll do it here instead as I try to unpack the answer to that question.
Some theories:
- The Vikings are not and have not been interested in Rodgers from the start. The attention-starved QB is just boosting his own ego and leverage through a few news cycles, but disavowing interest in a free agent is not how things work for teams. Many of us would like this to be true, and indeed plenty of Vikings fans are operating somewhere between disgust and denial when it comes to any linkages between Rodgers and Minnesota. But that answer doesn’t match the reporting in numerous outlets, including from the Minnesota Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling.
- The Vikings won’t say an absolute “no” because it is always in a team’s best interest to keep all options open. This seems possible, particularly when we think of how the Vikings handled situations last year with Kirk Cousins and this year with Sam Darnold. In both cases, it seemed like a long shot the Vikings would keep either player because other teams would pay more and with a greater commitment. But in case there was a bargain to be had with a familiar and known commodity (each QB authored one of those aforementioned 13-plus win seasons), the Vikings never closed the door. What if Rodgers' market dries up? What if second-year QB J.J. McCarthy has a setback or a fresh injury? Don’t say no until you have to.
- Because it isn’t obvious that the Vikings don’t want Rodgers. That’s the one that might scare you the most. They might be looking at his potential to disrupt the locker room and/or derail their franchise momentum while also thinking this: Here’s a Hall of Fame QB with something to prove. He would come in with a revamped offensive line and great skill position players around him while playing for a well-respected offensive coach and with the benefit of an excellent defense. Even if the plan is to compete for championships over the next decade with McCarthy, does Rodgers give a team that could win in 2025 the best chance to do that? If everyone is being honest and things go right, is there a QB available as a starting option for the Vikings this year who gives them a better chance to win a Super Bowl than Rodgers?
O’Connell might be grappling with all or none of these things at this moment. The longer we wait, the less we can say anything is obvious.
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