- Kevin O’Connell told both quarterbacks the rep split will not stay even once practices go to live periods.
- Kyler Murray has -900 odds to start Week 1 at Bovada.
- Murray is +550 to win Comeback Player of the Year, the third-shortest on the board.
- Minnesota is +5000 to win Super Bowl LXI, double the next-longest price in the NFC North.
EAGAN, Minn. – The Minnesota Vikings opened training camp Wednesday with Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy rotating evenly through first-team work, an open quarterback competition that the betting market has already scored for the veteran.
An Even Rotation With An Expiration Date
Murray took the first snap of team drills with the starters, and the two quarterbacks alternated in even blocks between the first and second units from there. Coach Kevin O’Connell set the terms a day earlier, telling reporters he had informed both passers that “we don’t need to make this 50-50.” The balanced rotation is a convenience of short early-camp practices; once the sessions extend into padded and live-ball periods, the distribution follows performance.
The two quarterbacks arrived at that even footing by very different roads. One is a former No. 1 overall pick with 87 career starts and two Pro Bowls. The other is the passer Minnesota drafted 10th overall in 2024 to be its long-term answer.
Why The Job Is Open At All
McCarthy has 10 starts to show for two seasons. A knee injury in his first training camp wiped out his rookie year, and in 2025 he completed 140 of 243 passes, a 57.6 percent rate, for 1,632 yards with 11 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and six fumbles while taking 27 sacks. The interceptions outnumbering the touchdowns is the line that ended the runway.
The offense sagged with him. Justin Jefferson finished with 84 catches for 1,048 yards and two touchdowns, the worst statistical season of his career and a long way from last August, when Jefferson was saying McCarthy would become a Joe Burrow-level starter.
The Minimum-Salary Favorite
Arizona released Murray at the start of the league year while still owing him $36.8 million in guarantees from his 2022 extension, and Minnesota signed him to a one-year deal at the veteran minimum of $1.3 million with a no-tag clause, meaning he can hit free agency unrestricted next spring.
Murray’s 2025 season lasted five games. He completed 68.3 percent of his throws for 962 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions before a midfoot sprain suffered in Week 5 ended his season. The Cardinals placed him on injured reserve in Week 10 and shut him down for the year. Five games is a small sample, but the accuracy profile in it fits an O’Connell system that rehabilitated Sam Darnold into a Pro Bowl season in 2024.
What The Boards Say
Comeback Player of the Year is functionally a starter’s award, and DraftKings has Murray third-shortest on it while the competition is nominally still open. That is a legal sports betting market treating the battle as close to settled.
| Comeback Player of the Year | Odds |
|---|---|
| Patrick Mahomes | +185 |
| Jayden Daniels | +450 |
| Kyler Murray | +550 |
| Micah Parsons | +1000 |
The team price tells the same story from the other side. On Bovada’s Super Bowl LXI board, Minnesota carries the longest number in its own division, an unusual position for a roster that reached the playoffs two seasons ago and still employs Jefferson.
| NFC North Team | Super Bowl LXI Odds |
|---|---|
| Green Bay Packers | +1800 |
| Detroit Lions | +1900 |
| Chicago Bears | +2500 |
| Minnesota Vikings | +5000 |
A +5000 price is a payout number, not a verdict on the roster. What it prices is the uncertainty under center, the exact thing this camp is built to resolve. NFL betting boards will reprice Minnesota the day the rotation stops.
The even split holds only through the early installs, and O’Connell said the reps will move once practices go live. Minnesota opens its preseason schedule Aug. 13.
