Vikings’ GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in Secret Talks to Trade for Veteran QB—But Pulls Back at Last Minute
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.
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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
Vikings Were Active Ahead of the NFL Trade Deadline
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
“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
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
Is J.J. McCarthy the Real Deal for the 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.
Browns' Deshaun Watson Trade Still Haunts Franchise, Costing Draft Picks and Future Hope
With the Cleveland Browns mired in a disaster of a season with yet another unsolved quarterback situation on their hands, it’s not hard to look back to how a March 2022 trade helped us get to this point.
We’re talking about the deal that landed Deshaun Watson, arguably the worst trade in the history of the league and one that has impeded the Browns from finding anything remotely resembling a long-term solution at the most important position in sports.
To this day, the ill-fated agreement still weighs heavily on the Browns. Let’s take a look:
Loss of draft capital
The Browns surrendered three first-round selections (2022, 2023, 2024), one third-rounder (2023) and two fourth-rounders (2022, 2024) for Watson and a 2024 sixth-rounder.
Sure, the 2022 Draft didn’t offer any real answers at the quarterback position save for “Mr. Irrelevant” Brock Purdy, selected by the Niners. Although Cleveland could have picked him at any moment of that draft, they were too busy drooling over their newly acquired passer to seriously consider adding another arm. Ironically, Bailey Zappe, taken in the fourth by the Patriots, is currently a Browns backup. Pro Bowlers available in the first round when Cleveland was due to pick (13th) include safety Kyle Hamilton, offensive linemen Tyler Smith and Tyler Lindebaum, and edge rusher Jermaine Johnson II.
The 2023 Draft is more of the same. Cleveland’s original 12th overall pick turned eventually into star running back Jahmyr Gibbs for Detroit. Two Pro Bowl-wideouts were selected later in that same opening round: Jaxson Smith-Njigba and Zay Flowers. Meanwhile, the Browns settled for Dorian Thompson-Robinson in the fifth.
Lastly, the 2024 Draft ended up with Cleveland’s original pick (23rd) being exercised by Jacksonville on Pro Bowl wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr.
Even discarding the possibility of the Browns trading up in 2023 or 2024 for someone like C.J. Stroud, Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye, there was still a ton of talent left on the table. This loss of draft capital has led to multiple missed opportunities to improve elsewhere on a roster full of holes.
Loss of cap dollars
The first thing Cleveland did once legally-embattled Deshaun Watson arrived, was compound the mistake by handing him an NFL record $230 million fully guaranteed contract that still burdens the franchise to this day.
And, thanks to the money spent on Watson, the Browns haven’t been able to dive into the open market in search of a better option through free agency, such as Lamar Jackson in 2023 or Sam Darnold this past offseason. And no, we won’t even mention Baker Mayfield here. We’ll do that next.
Loss of a potential franchise quarterback
Trading for Watson also meant getting rid of Mayfield, by far the only quarterback drafted by the Browns since 1999 close to a .500 winning percentage (29-30). In fact, out of the 41 quarterbacks that have started at least one game for Cleveland since ‘99, only Mayfield and Tim Couch (22-37) won more than 10 games for the club.
Mayfield has been through some ups and downs in his career, sure, but he’s also playing the best football in his life right now for Tampa Bay, light years ahead of what Cleveland’s passers have been showing since he left.
Misguided hope of deliverance
This is probably the worst of all since it’s not as easily quantifiable: the undying expectation that -- somehow, someway -- Watson could still be something that he hasn’t been since 2020, an NFL starting quarterback.
But, after five years of mostly being suspended, deactivated or rehabbing for the last five years, can Watson still play at a high level?
Even owner Jimmy Haslam seemed to dismiss any idea of reedemption when stating "We took a big swing-and-miss with Deshaun. We thought we had the quarterback; we didn't”, back in March. More recently, he confirmed: “A big trade we made didn’t work out, and you know, we’re all suffering from that, ” while defending head coach Kevin Stefanski.
Even if the Browns open the 21-day practice window for Watson soon, there are no assurances he’s ready to see the field, and by the time he could be, the season might be over anyways.
We get it, it’s hard to move one. But now the Browns are stuck with third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel, fifth round-rookie Shedeur Sanders, career backup Zappe, a looming dead cap issue with Watson, and a long list of ifs, hadn’t they agreed to the worst trade in the history of the NFL.
