J.J. McCarthy’s future with the Minnesota Vikings might be in limbo.After losing out on being named the starting quarterback or the 2026 NFL season to new arrival Kyler Murray, McCarthy is now at risk of losing his role as the backup too. McCarthy has found himself in a tough positionGettyThis comes after reports from ESPN’s Kevin Seifert indicated that the former Michigan Wolverines star was sharing second-team reps in practice with veteran signal caller Carson Wentz. With four quarterbacks currently on the roster, including Max Brosmer, the expectation is that at least one will be cut by Sunday’s deadline of cementing a 53-man roster. This therefore puts McCarthy, whose preseason performances have left little to be desired, at risk – especially if Wentz does enough to be named Kevin O’Connell’s QB2. Due to the structure of his rookie contract, though, should the Vikings ultimately decide that the 23-year-old is not in their future plans, the most likely outcome is that they will try to trade him. This is because his $1.075 million salary for 2026 and his $3.775 million compensation for the 2027 campaign are fully guaranteed. However, trading him may prove difficult, and they may be forced to waive him instead. McCarthy’s underwhelming rookie campaignMcCarthy’s arrival into the NFL was delayed after the former 10th overall pick missed his entire rookie season through injury. Making his return to the gridiron in 2025, his debut campaign was vastly underwhelming. In 10 appearances, the young signal caller completed just 57.6 percent of his passes for 1,632 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also fired 12 interceptions. Carson Wentz may yet be named QB2 with reports he and McCarthy are sharing second-team repsGettyMcCarthy hasn’t lived up to the hype from his collegiate days at MichiganGettyThese concerns saw them heavily pursue Murray in the offseason, who was available on the cheap after being cut by the Arizona Cardinals. With Murray, the Vikings are getting a former No. 1 overall pick who has thrown over 20,400 passing yards in his career, while his touchdown to interception ratio is at 2:1 having thrown for 121 scores to just 60 takeaways. The veteran also offers a unique skillset with his feet, having rushed for 3,193 career yards and made an additional 32 trips into the end zone. Last season, McCarthy had just 181 rushing yards, although he did tack on four touchdowns.While he may be an NCAA National Champion, the NFL is an entirely different game, and some players just struggle to make the jump up and have their game transition to the pros. McCarthy may just become another victim of that, and put himself in bust conversations.