In the second quarter of the 2017 NFC Championship game, the Minnesota Vikings scored the opening touchdown but allowed 14 points to the Philadelphia Eagles. Late in the game, playing on the road, Case Keenum led the Vikings into Eagles territory. It felt like Minnesota needed points to keep the game from getting out of hand. They were facing a third-and-five.
Keenum dropped back to pass and looked to throw downfield. As he was about to throw, Derek Barnett stripped him of the ball, and the Eagles recovered. Philadelphia would win 38-7, but Barnett’s strip-sack lingered longer than many other plays in the blowout.
It was a reminder of one of the most infamous trades in Vikings history. Minnesota sent a first-round pick to the Eagles for Sam Bradford. Philadelphia selected Barnett with that pick. He turned the ball over and helped the Eagles run flea flickers while their fans chucked beer cans at anyone wearing purple. After beating the Vikings in the NFC Championship, they won the Super Bowl in Minneapolis.
It’s the type of trade a franchise wants to avoid. But, seven years later, the Vikings may have the chance to flip the script.
Saturday’s preseason opener against the Las Vegas Raiders saw the unofficial beginning of life without Kirk Cousins. Sam Darnold looked solid, going 4 for 8 (with a pair of receiver drops) for 59 yards on the opening drive. Still, J.J. McCarthy was the main event, completing 11 of 17 passes for 188 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception.
Nobody expects McCarthy to start Week 1. There’s a 99.9% chance that Darnold is the starting quarterback when the Vikings travel to the Meadowlands for their season opener against the New York Giants on September 8.
But what if the Vikings could create their own Bradford trade before the season begins?
It’s a theory that doesn’t seem complicated. The Vikings have insisted that they will give McCarthy as much time as he needs to develop, and the 21-year-old did not look like a polished product against the Raiders. There were times when his processing speed could have been faster. His interception to Las Vegas’s Jack Jones was exactly the type of mistake a young quarterback makes.
Still, he showed enough arm talent and moxy to make Vikings fans think about his potential, which is where the foundation of the Bradford trade began.
The Eagles traded up for Carson Wentz in the 2016 NFL Draft and selected him with the second-overall pick. Wentz was considered a long-term project coming out of FCS powerhouse North Dakota State. The Eagles had Bradford to buy time while Wentz was slated to learn under head coach Doug Pederson.
The plan seemed set in stone, especially when Wentz suffered a hairline fracture in his ribs during the first preseason game. However, that’s when the Vikings came calling.
The Vikings were coming off a division title in 2015 and starting to develop the foundation for the team that got to that NFC Championship game in Philadelphia. Blair Walsh‘s brutal miss ended Minnesota’s playoff run prematurely, but the Vikings appeared to have an answer at quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater.
Vikings fans know what happened next. Bridgewater took an awkward step during training camp and suffered a career-threatening leg injury. Minnesota was down to Shaun Hill, needed a quarterback, and their options were running out.
General manager Rick Spielman called Howie. The first-round pick was an offer the Eagles couldn’t refuse. Wentz’s development plan went into overdrive, and Philadelphia made him their Week 1 starter after trading Bradford to Minnesota.
Wentz became a bust, which wasn’t evident early in his career. He posted a modest rookie season, throwing for 3,782 yards with 16 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, and a 62.4% completion rate. However, he was an MVP candidate in his second year, throwing for 3,296 yards, 33 touchdowns, and seven interceptions in 13 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
He never reached the heights of that 2017 season again, but immediately throwing Wentz into action didn’t slow his development. That could stick in the minds of Vikings fans who watched McCarthy get better as the game progressed on Saturday and know that he — not Darnold — is the franchise’s future.
The Vikings probably won’t be in the Super Bowl in 2024. Therefore, if McCarthy is comparable to Darnold, it would make sense to make some calls and see if they can get another draft pick to help Minnesota build its infrastructure around its new franchise quarterback.
But, as enticing as it is, the Bradford trade came with some important caveats. While the Eagles were in rebuild mode, they also were beginning a new regime. Bradford arrived in Philadelphia as part of Chip Kelly’s offense. His first year was considered a disappointment, though, and Pederson selected Wentz to begin his time with the Eagles.
It should also be noted that Wentz was a more polished product than McCarthy – even coming out of NDSU. At 24, Wentz’s path was more similar to rookies like Michael Penix Jr. At 21, McCarthy was the youngest quarterback selected in last year’s draft and played in a run-first offense under Jim Harbaugh at Michigan.
The last factor is Minnesota’s situation. Bridgewater’s knee injury left the Vikings without any leverage because they couldn’t roll an entire season with Hill as the starter. The first-round pick was a desperation offer, and the Eagles cashed in.
That’s harder to do in today’s NFL, where starters usually watch preseason games from the sidelines and get most of their reps during joint practices. While an injury can occur, it’s a controlled environment where players can’t hit the quarterbacks, providing a safer alternative than what existed in 2016.
The Vikings also seem to have an iron fist with McCarthy’s development strategy. Kevin O’Connell said during his press conference before training camp that he wants to have McCarthy’s best interest in mind, which remains the goal even if outside factors are involved.
“You’ve been some circ*mstances where things are out of our control sometimes,” said O’Connell. “But that is one thing that we are in control of, and our decisions that Kwesi and I talk through and our decision to bring J.J. here was all really…out of the belief that we feel we can put together a plan that helps him become the best player and best quarterback he can become.”
“I don’t know if it’s the former quarterback in me, but I will not allow any factors outside of what’s best for J.J. and what’s best to help the Minnesota Vikings win.”
In all likelihood, any trade involving Darnold likely wouldn’t happen before the trade deadline. Even if it did, the Vikings would have to find a desperate buyer to get the return the Eagles got for Bradford.
Maybe Aaron Rodgers’s Achilles doesn’t hold up, or Sean Payton has second thoughts about starting Bo Nix immediately. The Vikings know this too well after Cousins tore his Achilles days before the trade deadline. Still, even then, teams weren’t willing to part with good quarterbacks, and the best they could do was a conditional seventh-round pick for Josh Dobbs.
We also have to wonder if Darnold will be tradeable or an asset the Vikings will be willing to part with. If Darnold is playing well, the Vikings will be in contention, and a change at quarterback wouldn’t be necessary. If Darnold plays poorly, it will feed into the narrative as one of the biggest quarterback busts of all time, and teams will offer a late-round pick for his services at best.
Ultimately, believing the Vikings could flip the script on the Bradford trade feels like a juicy storyline. But heading into the season, it’s more of a pipe dream and another reminder that patience is needed in McCarthy’s development.
Chris Schad
Schad covers the Minnesota Vikings for Zone Coverage. He also writes for Bring Me The News and The Viking Age and hosts The Homer Horn Podcast.
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