The contracts of coach Kevin O’Connell and General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah are up after the 2025 season. If the team struggles in 2024 and McCarthy isn’t healthy enough to significantly develop, their job security might shrink.
By Jim Souhan
Star Tribune
August 14, 2024 at 1:02AM
The knee injury to Vikings rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy, left, could be concerning to coach Kevin O'Connell, top right, and GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, bottom right, from both a team performance and job security standpoint. (Carlos Gonzales (McCarthy), Elizabeth Flores (O'Connell), Anthony Souffle (Adofo-Mensah)/Star Tribune)
J.J. McCarthy’s knee injury might wind up hurting Kevin O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah a lot more than it hurts McCarthy.
McCarthy has a torn meniscus in his right knee and will undergo surgery. That doesn’t spell the ruination of the Vikings’ 2024 season. Just takes all the fun out of it.
McCarthy wasn’t expected to start early in the season. Given that he didn’t play in a prolific passing offense in college, he might have been saved for 2025, or might have found himself overwhelmed if forced to play right away against real NFL defenses.
What McCarthy represented to this market was hope, and what he brought to the fan base was excitement, and now that he might miss significant time, here’s a slew of facts that fans might want to ignore:
The Vikings went 7-10 in 2023, then lost two of their three most important players — quarterback Kirk Cousins and pass rusher Danielle Hunter. Their other MIP, Justin Jefferson, is largely dependent on the quality of the quarterback he plays with, and now he will be playing with Sam Darnold, Nick Mullens and/or Jaren Hall.
Good luck, gentlemen.
What McCarthy getting hurt before the start of the State Fair means is that there will be no cavalry for the 2024 Vikings. If they are to be competitive in a daunting division, they will need to rely on an improved running game and defense.
Which means that the most important news of the week now becomes the team’s negotiations with free-agent cornerback Stephon Gilmore.
Gilmore visited the Vikings on Monday. If he signed, he would become the team’s best cornerback, allowing Byron Murphy Jr. to play inside, and veterans Shaq Griffin and Fabian Moreau to play outside.
That shift in the depth chart would mean the Vikings would no longer be relying on their young cornerbacks to play meaningful downs early in the season.
The Vikings should be good enough at safety, with Harrison Smith, Cam Bynum and the versatile Josh Mettellus.
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They should be good enough at inside linebacker, with Blake Cashman playing alongside Ivan Pace Jr.
They should be able to generate a pass rush, even without Hunter, because of the arrival of Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel and rookie Dallas Turner.
What is uncertain is whether the rest of the defense and the expertise of defensive coordinator Brian Flores can compensate for spotty cornerback play.
Gilmore could fix that problem.
But if the Vikings are going to sign him, they should sign him to a multiyear contract.
In 2025, the Vikings will have McCarthy as their starter, Jefferson in his prime and a lot of cash to spend.
Having Gilmore on the roster in 2025 would help make up for the mistake of drafting Andrew Booth Jr.
As for McCarthy’s injury, it probably prompted a condolence call between Adofo-Mensah, the Vikings’ general manager, and his friend and counterpart with the Twins, Derek Falvey.
Falvey is trying to win a division without his star shortstop (Carlos Correa), star center fielder (Byron Buxton), a top-of-the-rotation starter (Joe Ryan), two of his most talented relievers (Brock Stewart and Justin Topa) and the top hitting prospect who was called up because of other injuries (Brooks Lee).
Those who believe that sports franchises can’t be cursed probably are not in the American demographic that thinks of walleye and hot dish as delicacies.
McCarthy’s injury also places a different kind of pressure on O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah.
The Wilfs have announced they were not interested in signing either to a contract extension. Both will have one year remaining on their contracts when this season ends.
If they have a losing record for the second consecutive season but looked promising because of the development of McCarthy and Turner, their jobs probably would have been safe.
If they have a second consecutive losing season, and McCarthy isn’t able to play and Turner is less than impressive, why would the Wilfs want to keep them?
O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah now find themselves in the unenviable position of relying on Darnold, Mullens or Hall to keep them in Minnesota.
Which means that McCarthy’s knee injury, if it keeps him from playing this season, could leave the current brain trust in a world of hurt.
