Kevin O’Connell Says Vikings Made Calls Before Quiet Trade Deadline
After a few rocky weeks with veteran quarterback Carson Wentz under center, the Minnesota Vikings may have turned the corner this past week with second-year gunslinger J.J. McCarthy returning to the gridiron. The Vikings were able to pull off an impressive win over the division rival Detroit Lions on the road at Ford Field, with McCarthy putting on a show with three total touchdowns.
With McCarthy breathing new life into the Vikings by leading the team to a much-needed win over the Lions to get back to .500 with a record of 4-4, Minnesota could be a frisky team in the NFC moving forward, which prompted questions about whether the team should make some moves ahead of the NFL trade deadline on Nov. 4.
Vikings Were Active Ahead of the NFL Trade Deadline
GettyMinnesota Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
With Wentz out for the season and McCarthy having played only a handful of games in his career so far, the obvious need is at the quarterback position to get some insurance behind their new face of the franchise, who has dealt with numerous injuries in his short time with the team.
Although the need is there, it doesn’t seem like the Vikings were too intent on making a move ahead of the NFL trade deadline, even though the team’s general manager, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, was making a lot of calls, according to head coach Kevin O’Connell, who said the following to KFAN’s Paul Allen on Tuesday.
“I would say the Whoppers are more on the whiteboard right now with the coaching staff plays more so than me being involved directly right now with any of that stuff,” O’Connell said. “But I know there’s a lot of calls going on. Kwesi and the staff do a great job with that and we’ll see where the day goes.”
Adofo-Mensah is known for making trades ahead of the deadline, as he has done every year since taking the job as general manager in Minnesota, via Purple FTW! Podcast’s X account.
Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has made at least one move at the NFL Trade Deadline every year he’s been in power.
2022: TE TJ Hockenson, Lions 2023: QB Josh Dobbs, Cardinals 2023: LG Ezra Cleveland to Jaguars 2024: OT Cam Robinson, Jaguars
What will Kwesi cook up this year?
However, for whatever reason, the Vikings brass decided to stand pat and ride out the rest of the season as currently constructed, which could be the right move or might end up coming back to haunt them, especially at the quarterback position, with Max Brosmer sitting behind McCarthy on the depth chart.
Is J.J. McCarthy the Real Deal for the Vikings?
GettyJ.J. McCarthy #9 of the Minnesota Vikings.
Over the course of three games played during the 2025 NFL season thus far, McCarthy has shown flashes of brilliance, which is why the Vikings brought him in, but he’s also had some rough moments, showing that he’s still a very young player who needs a lot of polish to reach his true potential.
However, he possesses some admirable qualities that teams seek in their starting quarterback, such as leadership and a no-quit mentality, which is a promising sign that McCarthy can become what the team envisions.
It’s too early to tell if McCarthy truly is the real deal under center in Minnesota. Still, the potential is there, and he’ll have his work cut out for him moving forward, with some tough matchups left on the schedule against the Baltimore Ravens, Green Bay Packers (twice), Seattle Seahawks and Lions.
Colorado Avalanche showed Championship-level grit against the Lightning
The Colorado Avalanche fended off the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night, with a final score of 3-2. It was a hard-fought battle between the two 2021-22 Stanley Cup Final teams. If one thing has been evident in the world of hockey—especially with this year’s Avalanche—it’s that you have to battle through the final whistle and faceoff. If you lay back, it can come back and bite you.
Thankfully, that’s not what happened in this game, as the Lightning had to pull goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, forcing them into a 6-on-5 man-advantage to try and get that tying goal. Thankfully, that wasn’t in the cards for the Lightning, as Colorado was able to keep them from scoring.
Cale Makar was a huge part of the game, and especially the final minutes, as he blocked a shot which hit his hand. He was in a lot of pain, as his reaction on the bench clearly showed. On one hand (no pun intended), that’s the type of
Jared Bednar on Cale Makar after blocking the puck late in last night's win over TBL via @AltitudeSR:
He said that Cale is okay!
"It says a lot. Those three minutes, regardless of how you played the whole night... I love what our guys did on that 6-on-5."#GoAvsGo |… — Adrian Hernandez (@AdoHernandez27) November 5, 2025
You know what? That honestly feels like a Championship-quality move. Now, it’s easy to talk about an obvious playoff team being a Stanley Cup contender in November. I also understand the hesitation to do so. But if the Avalanche fight like they did against Tampa Bay on a regular basis, the sky is the limit for them. They finally have quality goaltending, and we have guys who will go out to battle for each other.
Gabriel Landeskog’s fight is also one to note, as he’s been one of the more physical players on this year’s team, which is surprising given his three-year absence from regular season hockey, but it’s a welcome sight. He showed a lot of guts against the Lightning, too. Landeskog continues to show that he is doing quite well in his long recovery from knee surgey, and we might not even have to be talking about it any longer.
The Avalanche have a three-day break before a tilt with the Edmonton Oilers in Western Canada. We’ll get to see the battle between Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid, two guys who are often linked together. That should be a lot of fun. Who knows? Maybe we will get to see Mackenzie Blackwood back in action.
