Purple Rumor Mill: Fancy WR3 for Vikings, A Dark Horse MVP Contender, McCarthy's 10% Chance (2024)

VikingsTerritory’s Purple Rumor Mill is a two-day chronicle each week. All the week’s Vikings rumors are lassoed and plopped in two spots — articles on Saturday and Sunday — for review. Today is the June 29th edition.

Purple Rumor Mill: Fancy WR3 for Vikings, A Dark Horse MVP Contender, McCarthy’s 10% Chance

Remember — rumors are rumors. What you read on weekends in these pieces is what the world is talking about pertaining to the purple team, not necessarily items that will come to fruition.

Here’s the first batch of the week.

Rumor: The Vikings should add a productive wide receiver via trade like Amari Cooper or Chris Godwin.

This theory came from Last Word on Sports and was more like a person’s idea than a tried-and-true rumor. On Godwin, LWoS’Alex Anger wrote, “At 28 years old and coming off another great season, Godwin would probably be the most expensive out of this list, and with the Vikings having only two draft picks in 2025, Godwin may be out of their price range. If they do spend the steep price to get him, there isn’t a better semi-realistic option out there.”

Anger continued with the Cooper theory, “For the Vikings, Cooper may not be the perfect fit. Cooper and second-year starJordan Addisonboth played in similar roles and unlessKevin O’Connellhas ideas to use either of them differently- which both guys are good enough to do- this may not be the guy to trade for. Although, no Vikings fan remembers ‘3-Deep’ as guys who all played the same role and struggled because of it. Sometimes, you just have to get talented players and make it work from there.”

Minnesota is unlikely to acquire a big-name wide receiver this summer because it used most of its trade capital on Dallas Turner in April’s draft.

Rumor: Justin Jefferson could win MVP.

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According toBleacher Report, Jefferson is a dark horse option to take home MVP bacon, a feat never accomplished by a wide receiver.

BR’s Brad Gagnon mentioned a handful of MVP dark horses this week, and Jefferson was the only non-quarterback to get the nod. “I’m imagining a scenario in which the NFL’s most talented receiver simply explodes in his prime, possibly at a record-setting tune,”Gagnon opined.

Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, C.J. Stroud, and Joe Burrow are the frontrunners to win the MVP this season, at least as of late June.

Gagnon added about Jefferson’s MVP chances, “And if that happens with Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy splitting up time at quarterback, this far-fetched scenario could lead to a wide receiver winning the MVP award for the first time.”

No non-quarterback has won the MVP trophy since 2012, when Adrian Peterson, a former Viking, earned the accolade. In the last 12 years, MVP has truly morphed into a quarterback award, with defensive players or anyone else rarely getting any nibbles. In that vein, Jefferson or any pass-catcher gaining enough momentum to topple a quarterback is a longshot.

Rumor: J.J. McCarthy has a 10% chance to start for the Vikings in September.

That’s the word from SI.com and Albert Breer, who wrote last week that McCarthy has less than 10% odds of becoming the starter for Week 1. Instead, Minnesota has veteran passer Sam Darnold on deck for QB1 duty, and barring something wild in July and August, the job evidently belongs to Darnold.

Via SI.com’s mailbag, a Vikings fan asked Breer for the odds of McCarthy’s QB1 ownership in Week 1, andBreer replied, “I’d say less than 10%.”

“More so, it’s about Kevin O’Connell and Sam Darnold. The former put together a detailed, step-by-step development plan for McCarthy that’ll require the quarterback to hit certain milestones before the team presses him into real action,” Breer continued. “The latter had a really good spring, too, delivering on how the Minnesota Vikings projected him, as Darnold came from a year in Kyle Shanahan’s system with the San Francisco 49ers.”

We believe Darnold will start Week 1, no matter what, so 10% might even be a little bold.

Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).

All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.