And finally, they traded up in the draft for Michigan's J.J. McCarthy. But things didn't go 100% according to plan. McCarthy suffered a season-ending knee injury during the preseason and in his absence,

After missing his rookie season due to a torn meniscus in his right knee, Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy is all systems go for offseason workouts this month, according to his coach.

The Minnesota Vikings had bad injury luck with quarterback J.J. McCarthy ahead of his rookie campaign. However, the opposite appears to be true as the 22-year-old begins working to prepare for his second NFL season.

ESPN's Kevin Seifert wrote that the Vikings would need a 'slam dunk return' to trade down from the 24th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Perhaps no team is as perennially hard to pin down as the Minnesota Vikings, however. The Vikings finally pivoted away from the "sure thing" at quarterback last offseason, favoring a lottery-ticket gamble on Sam Darnold rather than an expensive commitment to the aging Kirk Cousins.