Vikings: JJ McCarthy, Kyler Murray Not Expected to Have ‘Friendly' Battle

Former first-round picks J.J. McCarthy and Kyler Murray will be battling for their careers and a starting job with the Minnesota Vikings this spring and summer.

The Vikings expected McCarthy to become their quarterback of the future when they selected him with the No. 10 pick in 2024, but his struggles last season caused Minnesota to look for another option this fall. Murray is that option, coming to the Vikings on a one-year deal (on the veteran’s minimum salary $1.3 million) after being released by the Cardinals this offseason.

During an appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show” on Friday, Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network said the Vikings will have a “true competition” for the starting job this summer, and the two new teammates might not be on the best of terms during training camp.

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“They envision it being a true competition: Kyler Murray versus J.J. McCarthy,” Pelissero said, via NFL.com. “And both these guys are going to go into this believing they’re gonna win this job. I don’t know frankly how friendly that quarterback room is going to be. It’s going to be a very competitive quarterback room.

“From everything that I’ve understood, it is truly wide open, they’re keeping an open mind as a coaching staff.”

Murray, the No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft, should be the favorite to win the starting job this fall.

The two-time Pro Bowl quarterback started out last season playing strong football before suffering a foot injury that forced him to miss the remainder of the season. In 2025, he appeared and started in five games, completing 68.3 percent of his passes for 962 yards, six touchdowns, and three interceptions. He added another 173 yards and one touchdown on the ground.

McCarthy was expected to have some growing pains last year after missing the regular season of his rookie year due to an injury he suffered in the preseason.

Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell has said that organizations fail more young quarterbacks than young quarterbacks fail organizations, so there should be hope that McCarthy can show positive development in Year 3.

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This story was originally published May 10, 2026 at 11:17 PM.