July 25, 2025 • 17 mins
Tim discusses the sensitivity of sports fans, evaluates J.J. McCarthy's potential as a quarterback for the Vikings, and explores the implications of future contract decisions for the team. He also highlights the recent situation involving Christian Wilkins and how the Vikings narrowly avoided a costly contract disaster.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Grind, a Minnesota sports podcast. Welcome into the Grind.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
My name is Tim and I'm the host of this
Minnesota sports podcast. Make sure you hit that subscy button
on YouTube or follow button wherever you're listening.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
To this show.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hit that leg button on YouTube as well, if you're
willing to do that, and rate and review the podcast
wherever you're listening to this show. A few questions for
you to start this podcast. Would you consider yourself to
be a sensitive person in your feelings? Would you consider
(00:38):
yourself someone that gets offended very easily or gets upset
very easily? And I'm assuming you're gonna say no to
all those questions because you're most likely a male listening
to this podcast, and males like to consider themselves people
that can't get offended, tough bros, can't back down, can't
(01:02):
beat me up.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Let me read this.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Colin Coward says this about Jaj McCarthy. You're gonna see
it very quickly. He is not what people think. McCarthy
is a c QB. Have you ever seen McCarthy's fourth
quarter college stats and playing from behind? They are terrible?
(01:30):
How does that make you feel? Does that make you upset?
Does that get you in your feelings? Because I have
seen endless content reacting to Colin Coward's opinion about JAJ McCarthy.
I saw Thornystrom go off on Colin Coward on Score
(01:57):
North's Twitter page. I've seen people say that Colin has
no idea what he's talking about. And right now the
Vikings audience is so bought into jjon McCarthy, and a
(02:18):
lot of people believe that there's going to be a
seamless transition from Sam Darnold to JJ McCarthy. I don't
think so. I don't think McCarthy is a c QB.
(02:40):
I also don't think he's an A plus QB. If
we're gonna grade A plus qbs, A plus, those are
the best qbs in the league. Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen.
An A minus QB right now is probably Jaden Daniels.
A CQB in the league. You look around and a
(03:05):
CQB is probably who's a CQB. The name Sam Donald
win in my mind, but he went from a D
to a B. A C quarterback in the league is
Russell Wilson. Borderline, It's like a C minus D plus
(03:28):
QB A CQB is justin Fields right now at this
point is a chance to become a B quarterback this
year with the Jets if he can turn things around.
A CQB is Caleb Williams right now with a chance
(03:53):
to get to a B or an A. I view
McCarthy as being a B quarterback in the league. So
Colin is not right about McCarthy, But most Minnesota Vikings
fans aren't right either because they view him as an
(04:16):
A plus quarterback. Rock Purty I would consider to be
a B quarterback, same with Kirk Cousins. And I think
that's where McCarthy falls. And what's going to be the
(04:36):
most intriguing storyline throughout McCarthy's first few seasons in the league,
And it's eventually going to be a question the Vikings
are going to struggle to answer because right now, the
Vikings roster is stacked with players offensively and defensively. But
(04:59):
if mc mac carthy becomes what the Vikings hope he becomes, eventually,
the Vikings are going to have to pay McCarthy and
they won't be able to pay all of these offensive
lineman and defensive lineman. And when that day comes, the
Vikings are going to need to answer a question, do
(05:22):
we pay a B quarterback JJ McCarthy a plus QB
money and then.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
We lose all those guys around McCarthy.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
That's the question the forty nine ers had to answer
about brock party, And ninety eight percent of the time
teams pay the QB because they feel like they need to.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Kirk Cousins. He was an outlier.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
He was one of the quarterbacks that did not get
paid from the Washington Redskins. And eventually the Vikings are
going to need to weigh the high reward of McCarthy
and the payment of McCarthy.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Is he worth.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Paying him top QB money when he's not necessarily a
top five QB in the league. Because right now the
Vikings should win with their roster and with everything that
they have going for him. But when McCarthy hits that
(06:39):
contract day and wants to get paid top QB money, well,
he's shown that he can win if the Vikings win,
which they should. He's shown that he can take a
team to the playoffs and maybe even win a playoff game.
So he's gonna come, his agent's gonna come with all
of this information about what he's produced on the field.
But the question that's going to be tough to answer
(07:03):
is was McCarthy carried to these playoff wins or did
McCarthy carry the roster to these playoff wins, because there's
a difference there. When Brock Purdy was surrounded by Deebo
Samuel in his prime and all of these other elite
(07:25):
players on the forty nine ers roster, it was a
whole lot easier to make the Super Bowl than it's
going to be this upcoming season.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
But they paid him anyways out of fear that.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
They would be terrible at the QB position. So this
is a future, future futuristic conversation that we're having, but
one that is going to come because of where McCarthy
ranks as a QB. It's going to be the same
question the Vikings answered about kirk Cousins. The Vikings general
(08:06):
manager Rick Spielman thought the addition of kirk Cousins three
years eighty four million dollars was going to be worth
losing players and kirk Cousins could make up for it.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Mike Zimmer disagreed with that logic.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Zimer and Spielman hated each other at the end of
their run because Zimmer wanted to keep their defensive players
and Kirk Cousins and his opinion was not worth all
of the money they gave them to lose the players
that they lost, And eventually the Vikings are going to
(08:47):
need to answer the same question about J. J.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
McCarthy. Is he worth.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Losing top offensive and defensive players for? And the likely
answer that is going to come in like three or
four years is yes, because he's gonna do just enough to.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Win games.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
But can he overcome the lack of great positional players
around him? And that's really what every quarterback in the
league needs to answer. The Josh Allens, the Patrick Mahomes,
these guys have answered the question the Lamar Jacksons that
(09:41):
they can take their team to be a contending Super
Bowl team even when the positional players around them aren't
the elite of the elite.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Is McCarthy able to do that?
Speaker 2 (09:58):
And I think that's really where the conversation and starts
because McCarthy, I believe it's impossible for him to be
a bust. I don't view McCarthy as a bust, but
I also don't view him as a top echelon player
in the League. My comp for McCarthy is Brock Purdy
(10:22):
and Kirk Cousins. I think he will perform similarly to
those two players.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
So it's not the.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Sicily take with the side of meat the ball, but
it's an honest take. McCarthy as great as he was
in college, he was carried to a national championship, and
right now is in a position to be carried through
(10:56):
his first season's starting as vis quarterback. But as those
players around him go somewhere else because the Vikings can't
afford them anymore because they're paying McCarthy. Can he maintain
(11:17):
a level of greatness on the Vikings and take the
Vikings to a level of greatness they've never experienced without
those top players around him? And those are the big
questions because we can analyze McCarthy and look at him
and say, oh, he's going to be good, But is
(11:40):
he going to be good in five years from now
when he's getting top quarterback money and the players around
him aren't as great? Those are the big questions. He
can analyze always an A plus, he's a see, he's
a B. But you're not answering the big question. The
(12:04):
Minnesota Vikings narrowly avoided disaster.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
After this recent story.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
But first I need to tell you about five Star
bas Solutions of Minneapolis, because they transformed our bathroom in
forty eight hours and they're the best. A new floor,
a new surround, new sinks, went from a single to
a double sink, a new mirror, countertops, and vanity did.
(12:36):
I talked about this around. They got rid of our
mold too. Don't outsource that. I talked to some other companies,
getting some quotes. They're like, yeah, if you have money,
you're gonna have to outsource that.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Oh great.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Five Star Bass Solutions of Minneapolis did it all in
forty eight hours. Free consultations, affordable payment plans. Five Star
Bath Solutions of Minneapolis.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Contact them today.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Five Star Bass Solutions of Minneapolis for all your bathroom
needs forty eight hours. It's amazing. It's convenience is affordable.
Five Star Bath Solutions of Minneapolis. The Vikings narrowly avoided
disaster per Adam Schefter Raiders are releasing defensive tackle Christian
Wilkins with the designation of terminated vested veteran. His time
(13:26):
in Las Vegas is now over due to how Wilkins
treated the reheab from his foot injury he suffered last season.
The Raiders voided the remaining thirty five point two million
of guaranteed money left on wilkins contract last month, and today.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Wilkins filed a grievance with the NFLPA.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Basically, the way I interpret this report by Adam Schefter
is that the Raiders are refusing to pay Wilkins the
final thirty five point two million of his guaranteed because
of the poor away Wilkins attacked his rehab per Darren
(14:09):
Wolfson the Purple Persuasion on March twenty six, twenty twenty four.
It says this those forty eight hours leading into the
official startup free agency, like I'm telling you, the Vikings
are feeling very very good about their chances of landing
Christian Wilkins. The Vikings wanted Christian Wilkins, and Christian Wilkins
(14:36):
took a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders. He signed
a deal, a five year deal, one hundred and ten
million fifty seven point five million guaranteed, and he played
five games for the Raiders. The Vikings wanted him because
(14:56):
of the connection between Brian Flores and Christian Wilkins, and
they thought they had him because of the connection between
Brian Flores and Christian Wilkins. But this morning, the Vikings
are taking a big breath of relief because they did
not get Christian Wilkins. They wanted him, but Christian Wilkins
(15:20):
chose somewhere else, And because he chose somewhere else, the
Vikings escaped paying a player that played five games fifty
seven point five million guaranteed and avoided the disaster avoiding
(15:40):
a contract and having him file a grievance and trying
to get his money back. Just a situation that's ugly,
and it's not because the Vikings really.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Did anything.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
They welcomed this opportunity because, let's face it, he was
a good player for the Dolphins and the Vikings needed
defensive tackle help, so they wanted him. But luckily Christian
Wilkins said I'm gonna play for the Raiders instead, and
(16:16):
because of that, the Vikings escaped paying a player who
played five games a ton of money and are now
breathing a huge sigh of relief. Sometimes you just gotta
(16:37):
be lucky, and that's what the Vikings were. Thank you
for joining the show today, Hit that subscribe button on
YouTube and rate and review the show. If you're listening
somewhere else, hit that like button on YouTube as well.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
All Right, everyone, have a good day, have a good weekend.
We'll talk to you Monday. Thanks for joining the show today.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Okay,
The Grind, a Minnesota sports podcast. Welcome into the Grind.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
My name is Tim and I'm the host of this
Minnesota sports podcast. Make sure you hit that subscy button
on YouTube or follow button wherever you're listening.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
To this show.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hit that leg button on YouTube as well, if you're
willing to do that, and rate and review the podcast
wherever you're listening to this show. A few questions for
you to start this podcast. Would you consider yourself to
be a sensitive person in your feelings? Would you consider
(00:38):
yourself someone that gets offended very easily or gets upset
very easily? And I'm assuming you're gonna say no to
all those questions because you're most likely a male listening
to this podcast, and males like to consider themselves people
that can't get offended, tough bros, can't back down, can't
(01:02):
beat me up.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Let me read this.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Colin Coward says this about Jaj McCarthy. You're gonna see
it very quickly. He is not what people think. McCarthy
is a c QB. Have you ever seen McCarthy's fourth
quarter college stats and playing from behind? They are terrible?
(01:30):
How does that make you feel? Does that make you upset?
Does that get you in your feelings? Because I have
seen endless content reacting to Colin Coward's opinion about JAJ McCarthy.
I saw Thornystrom go off on Colin Coward on Score
(01:57):
North's Twitter page. I've seen people say that Colin has
no idea what he's talking about. And right now the
Vikings audience is so bought into jjon McCarthy, and a
(02:18):
lot of people believe that there's going to be a
seamless transition from Sam Darnold to JJ McCarthy. I don't
think so. I don't think McCarthy is a c QB.
(02:40):
I also don't think he's an A plus QB. If
we're gonna grade A plus qbs, A plus, those are
the best qbs in the league. Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen.
An A minus QB right now is probably Jaden Daniels.
A CQB in the league. You look around and a
(03:05):
CQB is probably who's a CQB. The name Sam Donald
win in my mind, but he went from a D
to a B. A C quarterback in the league is
Russell Wilson. Borderline, It's like a C minus D plus
(03:28):
QB A CQB is justin Fields right now at this
point is a chance to become a B quarterback this
year with the Jets if he can turn things around.
A CQB is Caleb Williams right now with a chance
(03:53):
to get to a B or an A. I view
McCarthy as being a B quarterback in the league. So
Colin is not right about McCarthy, But most Minnesota Vikings
fans aren't right either because they view him as an
(04:16):
A plus quarterback. Rock Purty I would consider to be
a B quarterback, same with Kirk Cousins. And I think
that's where McCarthy falls. And what's going to be the
(04:36):
most intriguing storyline throughout McCarthy's first few seasons in the league,
And it's eventually going to be a question the Vikings
are going to struggle to answer because right now, the
Vikings roster is stacked with players offensively and defensively. But
(04:59):
if mc mac carthy becomes what the Vikings hope he becomes, eventually,
the Vikings are going to have to pay McCarthy and
they won't be able to pay all of these offensive
lineman and defensive lineman. And when that day comes, the
Vikings are going to need to answer a question, do
(05:22):
we pay a B quarterback JJ McCarthy a plus QB
money and then.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
We lose all those guys around McCarthy.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
That's the question the forty nine ers had to answer
about brock party, And ninety eight percent of the time
teams pay the QB because they feel like they need to.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Kirk Cousins. He was an outlier.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
He was one of the quarterbacks that did not get
paid from the Washington Redskins. And eventually the Vikings are
going to need to weigh the high reward of McCarthy
and the payment of McCarthy.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Is he worth.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Paying him top QB money when he's not necessarily a
top five QB in the league. Because right now the
Vikings should win with their roster and with everything that
they have going for him. But when McCarthy hits that
(06:39):
contract day and wants to get paid top QB money, well,
he's shown that he can win if the Vikings win,
which they should. He's shown that he can take a
team to the playoffs and maybe even win a playoff game.
So he's gonna come, his agent's gonna come with all
of this information about what he's produced on the field.
But the question that's going to be tough to answer
(07:03):
is was McCarthy carried to these playoff wins or did
McCarthy carry the roster to these playoff wins, because there's
a difference there. When Brock Purdy was surrounded by Deebo
Samuel in his prime and all of these other elite
(07:25):
players on the forty nine ers roster, it was a
whole lot easier to make the Super Bowl than it's
going to be this upcoming season.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
But they paid him anyways out of fear that.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
They would be terrible at the QB position. So this
is a future, future futuristic conversation that we're having, but
one that is going to come because of where McCarthy
ranks as a QB. It's going to be the same
question the Vikings answered about kirk Cousins. The Vikings general
(08:06):
manager Rick Spielman thought the addition of kirk Cousins three
years eighty four million dollars was going to be worth
losing players and kirk Cousins could make up for it.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Mike Zimmer disagreed with that logic.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Zimer and Spielman hated each other at the end of
their run because Zimmer wanted to keep their defensive players
and Kirk Cousins and his opinion was not worth all
of the money they gave them to lose the players
that they lost, And eventually the Vikings are going to
(08:47):
need to answer the same question about J. J.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
McCarthy. Is he worth.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Losing top offensive and defensive players for? And the likely
answer that is going to come in like three or
four years is yes, because he's gonna do just enough to.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Win games.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
But can he overcome the lack of great positional players
around him? And that's really what every quarterback in the
league needs to answer. The Josh Allens, the Patrick Mahomes,
these guys have answered the question the Lamar Jacksons that
(09:41):
they can take their team to be a contending Super
Bowl team even when the positional players around them aren't
the elite of the elite.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Is McCarthy able to do that?
Speaker 2 (09:58):
And I think that's really where the conversation and starts
because McCarthy, I believe it's impossible for him to be
a bust. I don't view McCarthy as a bust, but
I also don't view him as a top echelon player
in the League. My comp for McCarthy is Brock Purdy
(10:22):
and Kirk Cousins. I think he will perform similarly to
those two players.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
So it's not the.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Sicily take with the side of meat the ball, but
it's an honest take. McCarthy as great as he was
in college, he was carried to a national championship, and
right now is in a position to be carried through
(10:56):
his first season's starting as vis quarterback. But as those
players around him go somewhere else because the Vikings can't
afford them anymore because they're paying McCarthy. Can he maintain
(11:17):
a level of greatness on the Vikings and take the
Vikings to a level of greatness they've never experienced without
those top players around him? And those are the big
questions because we can analyze McCarthy and look at him
and say, oh, he's going to be good, But is
(11:40):
he going to be good in five years from now
when he's getting top quarterback money and the players around
him aren't as great? Those are the big questions. He
can analyze always an A plus, he's a see, he's
a B. But you're not answering the big question. The
(12:04):
Minnesota Vikings narrowly avoided disaster.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
After this recent story.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
But first I need to tell you about five Star
bas Solutions of Minneapolis, because they transformed our bathroom in
forty eight hours and they're the best. A new floor,
a new surround, new sinks, went from a single to
a double sink, a new mirror, countertops, and vanity did.
(12:36):
I talked about this around. They got rid of our
mold too. Don't outsource that. I talked to some other companies,
getting some quotes. They're like, yeah, if you have money,
you're gonna have to outsource that.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Oh great.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Five Star Bass Solutions of Minneapolis did it all in
forty eight hours. Free consultations, affordable payment plans. Five Star
Bath Solutions of Minneapolis.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Contact them today.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Five Star Bass Solutions of Minneapolis for all your bathroom
needs forty eight hours. It's amazing. It's convenience is affordable.
Five Star Bath Solutions of Minneapolis. The Vikings narrowly avoided
disaster per Adam Schefter Raiders are releasing defensive tackle Christian
Wilkins with the designation of terminated vested veteran. His time
(13:26):
in Las Vegas is now over due to how Wilkins
treated the reheab from his foot injury he suffered last season.
The Raiders voided the remaining thirty five point two million
of guaranteed money left on wilkins contract last month, and today.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Wilkins filed a grievance with the NFLPA.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Basically, the way I interpret this report by Adam Schefter
is that the Raiders are refusing to pay Wilkins the
final thirty five point two million of his guaranteed because
of the poor away Wilkins attacked his rehab per Darren
(14:09):
Wolfson the Purple Persuasion on March twenty six, twenty twenty four.
It says this those forty eight hours leading into the
official startup free agency, like I'm telling you, the Vikings
are feeling very very good about their chances of landing
Christian Wilkins. The Vikings wanted Christian Wilkins, and Christian Wilkins
(14:36):
took a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders. He signed
a deal, a five year deal, one hundred and ten
million fifty seven point five million guaranteed, and he played
five games for the Raiders. The Vikings wanted him because
(14:56):
of the connection between Brian Flores and Christian Wilkins, and
they thought they had him because of the connection between
Brian Flores and Christian Wilkins. But this morning, the Vikings
are taking a big breath of relief because they did
not get Christian Wilkins. They wanted him, but Christian Wilkins
(15:20):
chose somewhere else, And because he chose somewhere else, the
Vikings escaped paying a player that played five games fifty
seven point five million guaranteed and avoided the disaster avoiding
(15:40):
a contract and having him file a grievance and trying
to get his money back. Just a situation that's ugly,
and it's not because the Vikings really.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Did anything.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
They welcomed this opportunity because, let's face it, he was
a good player for the Dolphins and the Vikings needed
defensive tackle help, so they wanted him. But luckily Christian
Wilkins said I'm gonna play for the Raiders instead, and
(16:16):
because of that, the Vikings escaped paying a player who
played five games a ton of money and are now
breathing a huge sigh of relief. Sometimes you just gotta
(16:37):
be lucky, and that's what the Vikings were. Thank you
for joining the show today, Hit that subscribe button on
YouTube and rate and review the show. If you're listening
somewhere else, hit that like button on YouTube as well.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
All Right, everyone, have a good day, have a good weekend.
We'll talk to you Monday. Thanks for joining the show today.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Okay,
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