The Minnesota Vikings completed a shuffle of their backup quarterbacks on Sunday, having completed their evaluations of Brett Rypien, Sam Howell, and Max Brosmer after the last preseason game concluded on Friday night.
Apparently Kevin O’Connell and company had seen enough of Sam Howell after two preseason games and training camp to sit him against the Titans and then send him packing to Philadelphia. Brett Rypien was probably already out the door in the coaches’ minds on Friday night, and his performance left them with no second thoughts.
But jettisoning Howell and Rypien probably wouldn’t have happened unless KOC was confident in Max Brosmer as QB2, at least in the short term.
Sure, the Vikings signed Carson Wentz, who remained unemployed all spring and summer, as a veteran backup, but that doesn’t mean he’s the primary backup. It’s important to remember in considering Wentz’ role, that he’s been one-and-done with four teams since the Eagles traded him in 2021. Perhaps even more to the point, the Vikings preferred to keep Brett Rypien on their roster all spring and summer rather than sign Carson Wentz for the league minimum, and such was the case with the 31 other teams and their QB3s, QB4s, and QB5s.
It’ll also take some time for Wentz to get up-to-speed on the scheme and what not.
Wentz could eventually become the QB2 this season, but that shouldn’t be assumed. Nor should it be assumed that he stays on for the full season. Wentz has a total of 43 pass attempts since 2002, all in meaningless week 18 games with teams resting their starters ahead of the playoffs. He makes sense for the Vikings as a team needing a veteran backup on short notice, because he’s a) available for cheap; b) spent a season in 2023 in a similar scheme in LA under Sean McVay; and c) Josh McCown knows him from being in the same QB room with him his last season as a player.
What doesn’t mesh with Kevin O’Connell and the Vikings’ culture is that Wentz has developed a reputation of not being a good locker room guy, who was seen as selfish and egotistical and who only associated with a small number of preferred players while in Philadelphia, and got into a fight with Darren Sproles that had to be broken up by Jason Peters for reportedly voicing his displeasure with the Eagles success in their 2017 Super Bowl run after he was injured, and personality issues contributed to his departure from Indianapolis as well.
After his trade from the Colts to the Commanders, a March 2022 report from The Athletic stated that the Colts were frustrated with Wentz’s “lack of leadership, resistance to hard coaching and reckless style of play”. Some within the organization were ready to move on from him even before the late-season collapse that saw the Colts miss the playoffs. Colts GM Chris Ballard also commented on Wentz’s struggles with accuracy and decision-making under duress. But the decision to move on from Wentz wasn’t just a football decision apparently. Here is a more extended excerpt from The Athletic story:
“Truth be told, some inside the Indianapolis Colts’ West 56th Street facility were finished with the Carson Wentz experiment long before the team’s late-season collapse, according to several recent conversations with sources inside the organization. Consecutive losses to Las Vegas and Jacksonville in Weeks 17 and 18 — punctuated by poor play from the starting quarterback — cost the team a 97 percent shot at the playoffs and led to owner Jim Irsay calling it “an epic shortfall that stunned and shocked and appalled us all…
As for the Colts, the issues with Wentz stretched back to before the season began, one source said, and over the course of the year, some grew frustrated at what they deemed a lack of leadership, a resistance to hard coaching and a reckless style of play, which had a role in several close losses this year.
But this wasn’t just a football move. Wentz’s play, inconsistent as it was to close the year, wasn’t the deciding factor. Colts brass simply didn’t trust him to be the franchise quarterback moving forward, and they weren’t willing to bring him back in 2022 and hope for better. Thus, the decision was made swiftly after the Week 18 debacle in Jacksonville: Wentz wouldn’t return for a second season in Indianapolis…
And the fact that the Colts were willing to move on from him without a viable Plan B in place — not to mention a thin free-agent class and no first-round draft choice — is especially telling. That’s how determined the Colts were in their decision.
They were moving on from Wentz, period.
In Washington in 2022, his last opportunity as a starter, he was benched first due to a broken finger (and poor performance) and replaced by former Vikings’ backup Taylor Heinicke week 7. Wentz returned week 16 and after two bad games was benched in favor of… wait for it… Sam Howell. The Commanders released Wentz the following February with two years left on his contract after spending two third-round picks and swapping second-round picks with Indianapolis to acquire Wentz the previous year.
In 2023, the Rams signed Wentz during their bye-week, but signed Jimmy Garappolo as their backup the following season. Last season the Chiefs signed Wentz to be their backup, but opted for Gardner Minshew this season, with Bailey Zappe and Chris Oladokun also on the roster.
To be fair, there are differing views of Wentz and other players that have good things to say about him, but clearly there are reasons why Wentz has not been retained by four different teams in the last four years that go beyond his ability to play the quarterback position. I would think Kevin O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah would have done their due diligence in checking with sources about Wentz beyond just Josh McCown. Sean McVay, Ryan Kelly, Jonathan Allen, and Javon Hargrave are all close and available sources who’ve shared a locker room with Wentz.
Max Brosmer vs. Carson Wentz
Now that we know the Vikings’ quarterback room will be J.J. McCarthy, Max Brosmer, and Carson Wentz, the next question is who is QB2 and is this a competition or what? Are both guys clear what their role is?
It’s clear that Brosmer has a lot of fans inside the locker room and amongst the coaching staff, and has earned a spot on the 53-man roster. But is Kevin O’Connell going to simply name Wentz QB2 and work on getting him up-to-speed in the scheme, or is this a competition, or is Brosmer QB2 and Wentz QB3? Maybe I’m making too much of this but if this isn’t handled the right way by all involved, this could become an unwanted distration.
Personally I think KOC should name Brosmer QB2 and Wentz QB3 so there is no confusion and less chance of any distraction. With Wentz coming in this close to the start of the regular season, and given where Wentz is in his career and his background issues, and how well Brosmer has progressed since the start of training camp, it would be a bit of a slap in the face for Brosmer if KOC named Wentz QB2. Certainly it could be justified based on experience, but nevertheless it might not go over so well all things considered. And beyond that, will he be a welcome and helpful voice in the quarterback room?
We’ll have to wait for clarity on the quarterback depth chart beyond J.J. McCarthy from Kevin O’Connell. It’ll be interesting if KOC fields any questions about Wentz’ background from reporters at his next press conference.
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