Life is pretty kind to Green Bay Packers fans. Sure, a Super Bowl title has alluded them for 15 years, but it’s been a steady run of relevance with 12 winning seasons and 12 playoff trips while plenty of teams would kill for that level of consistency.
It’s been pretty unreal, honestly, going from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love. Not many teams can even pretend to understand quarterback succession like that.
And speaking of teams that clearly don’t, the Minnesota Vikings are back in the conversation. To say Vikings signal-caller J.J. McCarthy had a rough go of it in Year 2 would be the understatement of the century. The 23-year-old looked more lost than a shoe under center, and it made the decision to let Sam Darnold walk last offseason age like milk in real time.
With Darnold now rocking a Super Bowl ring and McCarthy showing no signs of being the long-term answer, the Vikes could be staring down one of the strangest quarterback pivots in recent memory. Think Philip Rivers popping up with the Colts-level surprising. A retired Derek Carr potentially unretiring for the right situation has officially been reported, and Minnesota is already being floated as a destination.
And Packers fans are rolling on the floor laughing, rug burn and all.
Derek Carr feels like the most Vikings quarterback move imaginable
Derek Carr is not a bad quarterback. Not even close. But if signing Carr isn't the Kirk Cousins-iest move of all time, I don't know what is. Sure, he'll raise the Vikings' floor... but that's about it. The 34-year-old has only been to the playoffs once, playing in only one game, in his 11-year career -- he lost to the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2022 Wild Card round, 26-19.
Sound somewhat familiar? Cousins sports a lackluster 1-4 record in the playoffs, but has put up big numbers in the regular season.
Even still, Vikings fans will do their best to convince themselves that the former Fresno State star is a viable option. I guess anything is better than McCarthy at this point. To think they could have just re-signed Darnold and they wouldn't even have to worry about any of this is comedy gold.
The Viking Age's Brad Berreman recently spoke about said QB trouble, cautiously floating out Carr as a stone head coach Kevin O'Connell and Co. should turn over:
"The Vikings should have a "no stone unturned" approach to adding a quarterback this offseason. Carr, however, tentatively and with questions in play, is now one of those stones that needs to be turned over."
The irony is that Carr probably makes the Vikings more competitive almost instantly. The problem is that “more competitive” still won't get them very far. Packers fans have seen this movie before, and it always ends the same way. Different quarterback, same ceiling. Maybe if Carr doesn't work out, they can call up Philly Rivers instead.