The Minnesota Vikings made two trades – one with the New York Jets, the other with the Jacksonville Jaguars – choosing Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy with the No. 10 overall pick and Alabama’s Dallas Turner at No. 17.
But that was only the second-biggest deal they tried to work in recent days.
“In recent weeks, both the Patriots and Vikings reached out to the Chargers to see if they had any interest in trading QB Justin Herbert, per league sources. The answer was, very quickly, ‘a flat no,’” ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on X on April 25.
Bets on the Chargers to select a quarterback – namely McCarthy, whose college head coach Jim Harbaugh now helms LA – greatly shifted the odds in that direction on draft day.
Herbert, 26, is a former No. 6 overall pick (2020) and a one-time Pro Bowler.
He is coming off an injury-marred 2023 season that was statistically his worst in the NFL, missing four regular season games with a hand injury. But he set records as a passer over his first three seasons and drew rave reviews from Harbaugh.
Jim Harbaugh, Salary Cap Worked Against Vikings in Potential Trade for Chargers’ Justin Herbert
GettyJustin Herbert #10 of the Los Angeles Chargers.
“There’s no style of football that he wouldn’t excel at,” Harbaugh said on the “Pat McAfee Show” on February 2. “You wanna talk about RPOs, if he was just going to be a running quarterback he could be that. Drop-back, pocket passer, he’s got the potential to be the absolute best at that. He could probably go play tight end and be a Pro Bowl tight end.
“There’s no question, he could be your punter, your kicker, he could be a tremendous edge rusher.”
It wasn’t just an affinity for the player, though that would be reason enough to hold onto a still-ascending player at the game’s most important position.
“Not only do the Chargers love Herbert, but they also would have had to take on a $63.5 million cap charge for the coming season at a time they have $32.3 million of cap space,” Schefter said.
While Harbaugh’s sentiments likely worked against the Vikings for Herbert, they may have helped them land McCarthy.
Jim Harbaugh Raved About Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy
GettyHead Coach Jim Harbaugh and J.J. McCarthy #9 of the Michigan Wolverines.
There was pre-draft speculation that the Chargers’ having Herbert could lead them to welcome a trade down with Harbaugh’s affinity for McCarthy leading the ball coach to push his former player to a strong situation in Minnesota.
“It’s well documented I think he’s the best quarterback in the draft,” Harbaugh told reporters at the Annual Meeting in March. “That’s just what I think is my opinion. He’s the one who plays quarterback of all the quarterbacks that are in the draft. There’s great quarterbacks in the draft. I think he plays quarterback the best of any quarterback in the draft.”
Many around the league viewed that as a coach pumping up one of his players. McCarthy was facing plenty of scrutiny after a polarizing college career.
In Minnesota, he will have a chance to sit and develop behind Sam Darnold.
The long-term impact this could have on the Vikings with Justin Jefferson and, eventually, Jordan Addison cannot be overstated either. The latter, in particular, wanted a long-term resolution at the quarterback position before inking a new contract.
