With free agency one day away, our Minnesota Vikings myths and misses — the Nopedy Nopes — ride again. We track weekly all Vikings-themed items that are unrealistic, wrong, or didn’t quite work out.
A few popular Vikings theories are already falling apart.
We call them the “Nopedy Nopes,” and the series has spanned a few years.
Carr, Jones, and Spending Hype Belong in Minnesota’s Myth Bin
Here’s a look at Vikings stuff from the week that didn’t or won’t turn out as planned.
The Nopedy Nope: Derek Carr is a realistic QB option for the Vikings.
Carr resurfacing as a viable option for the Vikings — or any team — may feel like a Philip Rivers-style comeback fantasy.
NFL insider Jason La Canfora wrote Tuesday, “Although sections of the media continue to suggest that NFL teams would welcome a comeback from retired quarterback Derek Carr, it’s far harder to find any front-office executives who share that enthusiasm for a return.”
“Carr, whose tenure with the Saints was mostly dreadful with him signing a lucrative contract that team officials quickly regretted, has been threatening to come out of retirement to play for a contending team.”
Carr will turn 35 in three weeks and, in theory, could still perform at a semi-high level.
La Canfora added, “New Orleans retains his rights and conversations with multiple teams actually in the market for quarterback upgrades revealed no appetite for the veteran even despite this college draft being very short on quarterback options and despite the free-agent class being barren as well.”
“An agent for a top free agent quarterback said he does not view Carr as competition for his client’s services and in general there has been skepticism within the football world about Carr playing anywhere in 2026.”
That reporting cools the conversation quickly for anyone hoping Carr might restart his career in the Twin Cities.
The Verdict: Nopedy nope on Carr as an overly realistic quarterback option for the Vikings. Why trade for Carr and his contract when you can sign Kyler Murray or Geno Smith for “free?”
The Nopedy Nope: Daniel Jones could be on the Vikings’ radar — all $40 million per year, plus a busted Achilles tendon.
The transition tag keeps a small door open for Daniel Jones to land in Minnesota. In that setup, another team can extend Jones an offer sheet while the Colts retain the option to match it.
ESPN’s Peter Schrager said Tuesday, “There’s also another team that’s lingering (in free agency. The transition tag does mean some other team can make an offer; the Colts would just have the last opportunity to match that offer. The team I would watch as a possible long shot, but also one that could be angling here is the Minnesota Vikings.”
KSTP’s Darren Wolfson also mentioned on SKOR North programming, “Daniel Jones is certainly somebody at least that needs to be on our radar.”
A Vikings pursuit of Jones would likely require a contract north of $40 million. That becomes tricky for a team that started the offseason about $40 million over the cap. The medical component adds another layer of risk, too, with Jones working back from a torn Achilles.
The Verdict: Nopedy nope on spending $40 million for Jones and his ruptured Achilles when, again, Murray and Smith can be signed for next to nothing.
The Nopedy Nope: The Vikings will spend big in free agency.
Because it spent so much in 2024 and 2025, Minnesota won’t pay top dollar in 2026 during free agency, or so says interim general manager Rob Brzezinski.
Brzezinski chatted with ESPN this week: “We’ve spent a lot of money the last two years in free agency. And so our goal is going to be to keep our core in place, and that’s going to involve making some difficult decisions on some players, which you deal with on a daily basis.”
“But I think for the most part, our goal is going to be to draft and develop and to retain our core, and supplement with free agency. It just makes logical sense that that bill’s coming due. We do have to navigate it, and navigate it responsibly.”
That sounds like a man in charge of a team seeking value-based newcomers.
Brzezinski continued, “A big part of that is balancing what we’re doing in 2026 versus the future. It’s just inherent in my role. I feel like that’s a critical part of when I talk about the guardrails and the vision and the philosophy.”
“To make sure, maybe if we’re veering a little bit, to try to make a decision that maybe is not the best for the long term, maybe we can come back to what we talked about originally and say, ‘Hey, remember we talked about this is the way we’re going to do things? This is our philosophy.’ I think we can just lean on that and go from there.””
The Verdict: The Vikings will sign new players, but don’t expect the top guys like center Tyler Linderbaum or EDGE Trey Hendrickson. Nopedy nope. The spend-big window has closed for a while.
