Carson Wentz has been placed on injured reserve and will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, according to CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones. Wentz made five starts this season for the Vikings in relief of starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who is expected to return to the lineup for this week’s game against the Detroit Lions.
Along with McCarthy, the Vikings’ quarterback room consists of Max Brosmer, an undrafted rookie who will now move up to the No. 2 spot on the depth chart. Brosmer, who started for the Minnesota Gophers last season, has made three relief appearances this season, going 5 of 8 passing for 42 yards.
Wentz played with considerable pain in his left (non-throwing) shoulder for more than half of his five starts, according to the Vikings’ website. The former Pro Bowl quarterback appeared to be in obvious pain during Minnesota’s most recent game, a 37-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers that saw Wentz leave before its conclusion.
A 10-year veteran, Wentz won two of his first three starts for the Vikings while filling in for McCarthy, who suffered a high-ankle sprain during Minnesota’s Week 2 loss to the Falcons.
Wentz sustained his shoulder injury during the first half of the Vikings’ Week 5 win over the Browns in London. Despite the injury, Wentz stayed in the game and ultimately led a game-winning drive that included him going 9 of 9 passing while throwing the game-winning touchdown pass to Jordan Addison with 25 seconds left.
After using the Vikings’ Week 6 bye to rehab his injury, Wentz tried but was unable to lead the Vikings to wins in their subsequent games against the Eagles (his former team) and Chargers. He pleaded with Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell to remain in last week’s game against the Chargers despite being sacked five times and clearly being in pain.
Wentz did his best, but it’ll now be up to McCarthy to help turn the Vikings’ season around. Minnesota is currently 3-4 and in last place in the NFC North.
What does this mean for Wentz’s future?
For all intents and purposes, Wentz’s Vikings career is probably a wrap. He was brought in as emergency insurance, and he was called upon to a great degree in a short amount of time. But he was uneven in dire circumstances, and he was always going to be a short-term Band-Aid anyway. Only a flawless and near-undefeated run would’ve convinced Vikings brass to pivot all the way off the McCarthy experiment, which has hardly left the ground.
More than that, Wentz’s injury-fueled exit may also spell the end of the quarterback’s NFL career. That’s mostly a result of the physical wear and tear he suffered behind Minnesota’s shaky front. Imperfect as he may have been handling the ball as Kevin O’Connell’s point guard, he showed enough in his brief Vikings tenure to warrant another backup gig somewhere else. It’s just that he’s also nearing his mid-30s after a decade of NFL service and took such a visible toll this year.
Considering he waited quite a while to land his last two backup gigs, it’s possible Wentz could decide that he’s had his fill of taking a beating on the NFL stage. Then again, his own rugged persistence is part of the reason he suffered such serious shoulder injuries at all; maybe his never-say-die mentality will be enough to have him angling for one last opportunity in 2026.
What does this mean for the Vikings?
For one, it underscores the cold reality that Minnesota simply wasn’t prepared to weather such turmoil under center. None of the club’s individual quarterback decisions — letting Sam Darnold walk, declining to pursue Aaron Rodgers with full conviction, etc. — was egregious on its own. But Wentz ended up becoming a sort of sacrificial lamb in the wake of McCarthy’s unreadiness.
What we don’t talk enough about is the fact [Wentz was] at the center of Minnesota’s conundrum — to hurry McCarthy back or to pivot to undrafted rookie Max Brosmer? — despite only joining the team on Aug. 24. Look, some quarterbacks can turn around and help a franchise stay afloat on a few days’ notice (see: Joe Flacco and the Cincinnati Bengals, at least briefly). But the Bengals had Joe Burrow as their Plan A. The Vikings had McCarthy, a total unknown.
What’s done is done. The Vikings made 2025 about McCarthy. And then McCarthy sputtered out of the gate before going down (again). It should be no surprise, a few weeks later, they’re hurting to get things under control at the quarterback position, not so unlike halfway through the 2023 season when Kirk Cousins was sidelined and O’Connell was left to squeeze what he could from Joshua Dobbs, another last-minute backup addition, and assorted leftovers.
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Practically, however, Wentz’s move to injured all but ensures McCarthy will make his long-awaited return sooner rather than later. Visiting Detroit to take on the vaunted Lions in Week 9 probably isn’t the launching pad the Vikings had in mind for their second-year signal-caller coming off injury, but then again, nothing has really gone according to plan at the position. McCarthy, meanwhile, may get somewhat of a pass if he isn’t lights out in his first game(s) back. But he’ll also be under serious pressure to make good on the 2025 campaign as Year 2 of his rookie contract quickly fades away.
And if he can’t stay on the field again? Brosmer, the former Golden Gophers prospect, may well be the next name we’re discussing as the unfortunate face of the Vikings’ offense.
