The 2024 NFL Draft is days away, which means all the speculation regarding J.J. McCarthy's future will give way to an actual decision. And the Michigan quarterback doesn't seem too picky about his destination, though he had particularly high praise for a specific team when appearing on "The Adam Schefter Podcast" this week: the Minnesota Vikings.
Minnesota is widely expected to pursue a quarterback early in the draft, owning two first-round picks and eyeing a long-term replacement for the departed Kirk Cousins. McCarthy, meanwhile, could be the last of the consensus top prospects remaining for a potential trade up after fellow quarterbacks Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye. Naturally, Schefter asked McCarthy first about the possibility of suiting up for the Vikings.
"It would mean the world," McCarthy responded. "Just because Coach (Kevin) O'Connell, he's a guy that I'd run through a brick wall for. Everything that he wants to do with his football team is something that I wanna be a part of. Obviously, being in the NFC North, being a Bears fan my entire life, and being able to play at Soldier Field and stay in the Midwest and all that good stuff, it'd be just a dream come true. Obviously the weapons there are limitless, so ... it'd be a blessing to be a part of it."
McCarthy ultimately had good things to say about each of the other teams mentioned by Schefter.
It'd be an "honor" to play for the New England Patriots, he explained, calling team owner Robert Kraft "the coolest, smoothest guy I've met in a long time." The New York Giants offer a system similar to the one he enjoyed in college, he added, and "the city of New York is so special." The Denver Broncos, meanwhile, are another stylistic fit, he said, and coach Sean Payton had "so many great words of advice" in the pre-draft process.
Do the Vikings trump them all in terms of McCarthy's actual interest? The Wolverines product wouldn't elaborate, but he joked that new Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, his mentor at Michigan, could help him land in the right place by orchestrating a trade out of the No. 5 overall selection, where clubs like Minnesota could be looking to move up.
