The final three games of the 2025 season will be huge for Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
McCarthy's first season as a starter has been underwhelming, but he has played much better of late and the hope is that he's turning the corner.
However, if he struggles over the final three games, the Vikings could opt to add a legitimate form of competition for the starting job in 2026.
If the Vikings go that route, Sports Illustrated's Mike Kadlick and Tim Dierberger view Miami Dolphins signal-caller Tua Tagovailoa as a possible option for the Vikings.
J.J. McCarthy should be the Vikings’ starting quarterback heading into 2026. But he could use more competition in training camp than former undrafted free agent Max Brosmer, who didn’t look ready in his first career start against the Seahawks. The Vikings need a better backup plan to McCarthy next season, and Tagovailoa—if they can work out the complicated contract details—certainly wouldn’t be the worst option.
The Dolphins announced on Wednesday that they are benching Tagovailoa, who has been terrible this year, and especially of late. That is a clear sign that Tagovailoa's time in Miami might be coming to an end.
The problem for the Dolphins is Tagovailoa's $212 million contract, which will make it incredibly difficult to trade him.
Miami would have to eat the vast majority of Tua's deal to make a trade happen, but that's something the team might be amenable to since it would be taking a bath with tons of dead money upon cutting the veteran signal-caller anyway.
Ideally, the Vikings can just sign Tagovailoa in free agency, where he would come very cheap thanks to his stock being in the toilet.
While Tagovailoa has looked like a shell of himself over the past few years, we know that Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell is no stranger to resurrecting the career of a quarterback, as we've seen with Sam Darnold, so there's at least a chance Tagovailoa could do the same if he gets a chance to play.
Tagovailoa would offer a strong form of competition for McCarthy, and a solid backup if he doesn't win the starting job.
And, when the trade deadline rolls around, perhaps the Vikings could flip Tua to a quarterback-needy team in order to garner more draft capital.
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