#623: Kevin O'Connell SLAMS DOOR on Aaron Rodgers rumors | NFL | Minnesota Vikings

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome into the show today. Thank you for making this
podcast a part of your day. It's been a little
while since I've done one of these. Typically I do
Monday through Saturday. Missed Monday, miss Saturday. I've been sick
for the last three weeks and you can still hear
in my voice doing my mess not to cough right now.
If you're watching on YouTube or listening somewhere else, hit

(00:28):
that subscribe button wherever you're making this podcast a part
of your day. I appreciate you doing that. Okay, So,
the Minnesota Vikings are and have a lot of people

(00:49):
in Florida right now. That's where all the insiders are
because of the NFL ownership meetings, and the juiciest topic
that has been discussed all off season has been about

(01:10):
the Minnesota Vikings quarterback situation, whether that be Sam Darnold, McCarthy, Rogers,
Daniel Jones. The quarterback position is the most important position
you could argue in any sport at any level. There's

(01:33):
nothing as important as the quarterback. You can take a
team that is one of the worst teams in the league,
you put a good quarterback on the roster, and all
of a sudden, they can become legitimate contenders within their division.
So Kevin O'Connell was asked by Alec Lewis on the

(01:57):
situation with Aaron Rodgers and JJ McCarthy, and here's what
O'Connell had to say, quote, two things can be true
at the same time. We took JJ tenth in the
draft last year after a very extensive evaluation process. A
lot of things we hoped to see from him we

(02:18):
saw in a short amount of time. Unfortunately, he got injured.
We tried to maximize as much as we could his
red shirt year while still making sure we were getting
Sam Darnold and our other quarterbacks ready to play. I
think JJ was able to take some things out of
that and be ready to go for the spring. The
second part of that can be true is Aaron Rodgers

(02:38):
is a fourth time NFL MVP and somebody who we've
all had so much respect for competing against him, and
he happened to be at a point in time in
his career where he was free to have some real
dialogue about what future may look like and what he
happened to be one of those teams he reached out to.

(02:58):
I have had a person relationship with him going back
to my playing days. But yeah, so two things can
be true. Look, you guys know near and dear to
my heart is the quarterback developmental process. I'm going to
take a very very personal role with JJ amongst Josh
and West and Jordan and all the guys were going
to have working with him. But I do feel very

(03:20):
strongly about where he's at right now, based upon the
information we have, the evaluation process, the time we've had
with him, I feel very good about projecting a really
positive year for JJ. And now we've got to go
do work and do it. Talking about it in March
and April doesn't do a whole lot. So that is

(03:42):
the most extensive answer we've heard from anybody within that
Vikings organization. This is the most definitive. One second, this

(04:04):
is the most This is the most defined answer we've
seen from anyone within the Vikings organization. The Vikings have

(04:26):
been so open to Rogers joining the organization because they
have not shut it down. Kevin O'Connell in this statement

(04:47):
is shutting down Aaron Rodgers to the Vikings rumors. However,
there is one caveat that I said last week that
would open the doors to Aaron Rodgers joining the Vikings,
and the one caveat is is either McCarthy plays so

(05:10):
bad for so long in spring and in training camp
that the Vikings are forced to do something about it
and they decide, hey, I guess we do need to
bring in Aaron Rodgers because McCarthy is not the guy
that we anticipated him to be as the tenth overall pick,

(05:34):
and coming after the injury, he's gonna need more time.
So that's option number one, Option number two, and the
most likely option out of the two options. I would
say that this has a higher chance of happening than
option one. I think Jajon McCarthy can play. Option two

(05:56):
is McCarthy goes down with an injury and the Vikings
are forced to bring in Aaron Rodgers because he has
interest in the Vikings and he would be easily the
best available quarterback to play on a Vikings organization that

(06:22):
is Super Bowl ready, with a offensive line, defensive line,
wide receivers and tight end, and a secondary that's improving.
So what I read from O'Connell is that McCarthy is
QB one and he slammed Aaron Rodgers rumors Quessey in

(06:46):
his preference conference last week kept the door open. He did.
He was asked about Rogers and McCarthy, and he could
have said over and over and over again, just to
really press into it. He could have said, yeah, we
looked into it, but we're done. The conversation's over. He

(07:07):
didn't say that. He kept the door open. And the
reason why he kept the door open is because of
the two options I explained earlier. McCarthy could look really really,
really really bad and two McCarthy could get injured, which
would force the Vikings to sign Aaron Rodgers. And that's
what Aaron Rodgers is waiting for. He's waiting for one

(07:30):
of those two options to happen. But Quesse goes, uh, yeah,
you can never say anything with one hundred percent in
our business. You're sure as hell can. You could have
slammed that rumor ended all questions. But the way he
answered it is in classic Vikings organization style where they

(07:57):
don't really give the media anything. But in their attempt
to give the media nothing, they actually gave the media
a lot of speculative stories that they could run with
that Pat McAfee and the ESPN talking heads will take

(08:19):
and listen to and post on their shows. And say,
Aaron Rodgers to the Vikings is still a possibility. I
saw it. AJ Hawk on Pat McAfee's show said it.
He said the Vikings did not close the door on
Aaron Rodgers, and he didn't. This is the most clear

(08:44):
statement from anybody within the Vikings organization. And my initial
instinct is it's about time. It's about time. I never
thought Rogers would sign with the Vikings. But the longer
the VI played this out and the longer that they
went without slamming the door shut. So what are you

(09:05):
waiting for. Let's clear up any questions about McCarthy and
build up his confidence and and and spill out any
rumors that are being discussed about Aaron Rodgers signing with

(09:26):
the organization. Sure, there's a side of me that says, yeah,
he's coming off an injury with three hundred days off
without any physical reps. It's all true. Sure, what has
McCarthy done to earn the QB one spot in the
NFL Really nothing besides one training camp in one preseason game,

(09:52):
which was almost a year ago. So there's a side
to me that says, hey, I get it. McCarthy hasn't
proven himself and that's what the Vikings are saying, because
they offered Donald and Daniel Jones, and they had long
discussions about Aaron Rodgers. But at the same time, there's
got to be some give and take. How long are

(10:12):
you gonna let these rumors service for? Because Donald left,
Daniel Jones left, and these Rogers rumors are not going
to end until someone within that Vikings organization slams the
door shut. And that can't be good for McCarthy's development either.

(10:35):
That can't be good for the psyche of McCarthy, regardless
of what Kevin O'Connell tells them. And I've been very
open about keeping Jajon McCarthy in the loop and having
conversations with him. He says, I do see McCarthy every
day throughout the week and thought it was important that

(10:55):
he was hearing it from me. I get it, but
and there's probably a trust factor with McCarthy and the coach. However,
I'm sure there's still a little doubt in your head
when the coach and the organization and the rumors and

(11:16):
the NFL media and the insiders are all reporting that
the Vikings are having intensive talks about whether or not
they should bring in Aaron Rodgers. It's got to mess
with you a little bit, McCarthy. If I don't know anything,
I know this. McCarthy is a human. He's a human being,

(11:41):
and human beings have doubts, and regardless of what people
say or do, actions speak louder than words. And the
Vikings having discussions about Rogers coming into the organization has
got to mess with McCarthy a little bit. So it's
about time that someone within the Vikings organization has said, Hey,

(12:06):
the only chance that Rogers is a Viking is if
McCarthy plays really poor in camp, or if McCarthy gets injured.
You read him between the lines. And Kevin O'Connell is
slamming the door shut on Aaron Rodgers being a member

(12:27):
of the Vikings. So that's the big story today. I'm
sure there'll be more quotes and more things to talk
about because it is the NF ownership meeting, and lots
of stories and lots of information comes out because all
the incentives are in Florida right now. Thank you for
watching this episode, for making this podcast a part of

(12:47):
your day. Hit that some sky button. I'm back and
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out and flowing like honey, and the woman will be flocking.
What's that dumb and number quote? Dumb and number quote,

(13:11):
dumb and dumber quote. Woman will be flocking. Sit here
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a beautiful woman instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano.

(13:38):
Thank you for watching this episode. Everyone have a great day.
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