The Minnesota Vikings named Kyler Murray as their starting quarterback on Tuesday.
Signed to a one-year, $1.3 million deal in the offseason after being released by the Arizona Cardinals, Murray is getting the nod over incumbent J.J. McCarthy. Murray will become the fourth consecutive different quarterback to begin the season for the Vikings, following Kirk Cousins (2023), Sam Darnold (2024) and McCarthy (2025).
“After some dialogue in-house and daily analyzing the overall of where we’re at right now, we did name Kyler Murray as our starting quarterback,” Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “… It’s been a true competition, and we feel like we’re at a place where we made a complete evaluation.”
O’Connell says he and new general manager Nolan Teasley met with Murray and McCarthy about the decision before informing the rest of the team.
McCarthy was a first-round pick in 2024 who was elevated to the No. 1 job when Darnold left to sign with the Seattle Seahawks as a free agent prior to last season.
Quarterbacks Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer also remain on the Vikings’ roster.
Per O’Connell, both Murray and McCarthy will play in Minnesota’s preseason opener against the New York Giants on Saturday.
Selected with the top pick in the 2019 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma, Murray was the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2019 and made the Pro Bowl in his second and third seasons.
“There’s comfort from Kyler in the scheme,” O’Connell said. “He had some really high completion days where he was able to show some really, really good understanding of just putting the ball in play, playing with great timing and rhythm. … As you continue to look at the body of work really through those 10 days, what jumped out is what could be.”
Murray, 29, played a career-low five games in 2025, ending the season on injured reserve with a foot injury. He threw for 962 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions with a career-low 173 rushing yards and one rushing score.
He has played a full regular season just once in the last five years (2024). In 87 career games (all starts), Murray has a 38-48-1 record, completing 67.1% of his passes for 20,460 yards, 121 touchdowns and 60 interceptions with 3,193 rushing yards and 32 scores.
McCarthy, the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, also battled injuries last season in his first action after missing the entire 2024 season with a torn meniscus.
McCarthy, 23, made 10 starts in 2025, completing 57.6% of his passes for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 picks. He also ran for 181 yards and four scores while compiling a 6-4 record.
“(He is an) incredibly important member of our quarterback room and our team,” O’Connell said of McCarthy.
–Field Level Media
