{"id":293629,"date":"2026-07-24T13:00:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T17:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=293629"},"modified":"2026-07-24T06:42:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T10:42:01","slug":"j-j-mccarthy-trade-rumor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/07\/24\/j-j-mccarthy-trade-rumor\/","title":{"rendered":"J.J. McCarthy Trade: Chargers, Colts Connected In Latest Rumor"},"content":{"rendered":"

J.J. McCarthy has not panned out for the Minnesota Vikings and, while it’s still early in his career, there’s a chance he’s already played his last snap with the team. Selected in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft<\/a>, the Michigan product entered his rookie offseason as Minnesota’s presumed starter. However, the quarterback suffered a season-ending injury in the offseason, forcing Sam Darnold to start in his place. Darnold performed admirably in his absence, going 14-3 before leading the Seattle Seahawks to the Super Bowl<\/a> one year later.<\/p>\n

With Darnold gone, J.J. McCarthy inherited the starting role in 2025, but didn’t play up to his potential. Starting and appearing in 10 games, McCarthy finished the season with a 6-4 record while completing just 57.6% of his passes for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. The Vikings signed veteran Kyler Murray following this lackluster season, and all reports seem to indicate the former Cardinal will win the starting job. With McCarthy likely relegated to life as a backup, Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport<\/a> believes Minnesota could trade the young passer.<\/p>\n

“…The reality is that Murray is in the Twin Cities because McCarthy’s 10 starts in 2025 were mostly dismal – a completion percentage of less than 58, more interceptions than touchdowns and the second-highest bad throw percentage in the league….McCarthy doesn’t project as a long-term NFL starter. But there are some teams (the Colts and Chargers perhaps) that could use an upgrade at QB2 or a short-term fill-in.”<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

Colts, Chargers Connected In J.J. McCarthy Trade Rumors<\/h2>\n

It’s easy to see why the Indianapolis Colts are a potential fit for J.J. McCarthy. While Daniel Jones is currently the unquestioned starter, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether or not the veteran can recapture his impressive 2025 form. While the former first-round pick had his moments in the league, the vast majority of his body of work leaves something to be desired. The Colts gave him a two-year, $88 million deal, and the short-term nature of this deal suggests they’re not 100% confident in his long-term abilities after his Achilles injury.<\/p>\n

Anthony Richardson has not panned out for the Indianapolis Colts, and it’s no secret that the former first-round pick is not a part of the team’s long-term plans. If the Colts do not believe in 2025 sixth-round pick Riley Leonard<\/a>, then perhaps the Colts and Vikings could swap busts. A change of scenery could do wonders for Richardson and J.J. McCarthy, as both first-round picks could challenge for a 2027 starting job if their respective veteran quarterbacks struggle in 2026.<\/p>\n

The Chargers, meanwhile, don’t make as much sense. While they could certainly use a better backup quarterback than Trey Lance, J.J. McCarthy might not be the answer to the team’s problems. Lance and McCarthy are similar in that both players are high first-round picks who failed to find NFL success. While McCarthy is more of an unknown commodity and has time to turn it around, he may not be the best solution for the Chargers. Justin Herbert is one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and no backup will challenge for his role. If Los Angeles is looking for an upgrade at the QB2 position, they should pursue a more proven option like Jimmy Garoppolo<\/a> or Cooper Rush.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Minnesota Vikings could trade quarterback J.J. McCarthy, and one writer believes the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Chargers could get him<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":293630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,12,18,26,6431],"tags":[7642,7800,32358,7753],"class_list":["post-293629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-colts","category-chargers","category-vikings","category-nfl-teams","tag-chargers-featured","tag-indianapolis-colts-news","tag-j-j-mccarthy","tag-minnesota-vikings-news"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293629"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":293679,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293629\/revisions\/293679"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}