Report hints Vikings could still 'address' Aaron Rodgers possibility amid recovery of J.J. McCarthy

A report from earlier in April said that the Minnesota Vikings potentially signing Aaron Rodgers for the 2025 season was "all but dead" because of how 2024 first-round draft choice J.J. McCarthy has looked coming off the full meniscus repair that sidelined him for his entire rookie campaign. 

For a lengthy piece published on Monday that detailed why Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell is confident that McCarthy will be ready to face live defenses this coming September, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated hinted that the Vikings won't slam the door shut on possibly reaching out to Rodgers if he remains unsigned as McCarthy prepares for mandatory minicamp workouts scheduled to take place in June. 

"The Vikings found themselves emboldened to give McCarthy the runway to seize the job, the staff the opportunity to build the offense for him, and see how that looked at the end of the spring," Breer wrote.

Understandably, such a line could lead one to ask how Minnesota would react if McCarthy doesn't impress his coaches as did 2024 Week 1 starter Sam Darnold last spring and summer. 

"The Vikings will address that later on," Breer said. "For now, though, they see all the pieces, in McCarthy himself and what’s around him. And we’ll know soon enough whether they come together as planned."

The "for now" line is doing some heavy lifting considering there's no indication Rodgers is in any hurry to sign with a Pittsburgh Steelers team that is now being linked with Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons. Numerous reports since March have suggested Rodgers would rather join the Vikings than the Steelers, and some reporters believe he ultimately could choose the New Orleans Saints over Pittsburgh if it's true that New Orleans starter Derek Carr could miss some or all of the 2025 season because of a shoulder injury. 

"They need to win the bet they’ve made on McCarthy," Breer added about a Vikings side that entered Week 18 of the 2024 campaign at 14-2. "The rest of the guys on the team need that, too." 

One can't help but wonder if at least a few of the most important guys and biggest stars in the Minnesota locker room will want Rodgers and not McCarthy atop the depth chart by the time training camp practices get underway this summer.