By Jim Souhan

The rumor that the Vikings would trade J.J. McCarthy to the Giants makes sense.

Until you spend five seconds thinking about it.

The Giants would be trading for a third-string quarterback who doesn’t know their system. That’s no way to save a season.

The Vikings would be trading McCarthy when his value is at its lowest, and during a season in which they may need three quarterbacks, given the injury histories of Murray and Carson Wentz.

Why would the Vikings trade McCarthy for what he’s now worth – probably a fourth-round draft pick – when there is a chance he could help them win this year?

Remember, for all of his flaws, he won his last four starts in 2025.

-“Huge’’ weekend

There was a time, kiddos, when the talking heads of the sports world didn’t call every single game “Big,’’ or “Huge.’’

The problem with calling the average game “Huge’’ is that you are left without words to properly describe games of actual magnitude.

So let’s not call this weekend’s games “Huge.’’ Let’s call them “possibly pivotal.’’

The Vikings play at Tampa. They should win, but upsets occur in the NFL for a reason. The Browns shouldn’t have beaten the Bucs last week, and the Packers should have been at least able to compete with a previously-flailing Falcons team on Thursday.

The Vikings lack depth at running back, will be playing in Florida heat, have little experience with Kyler Murray under center, and are coming off two games with divisional rivals.

As I discussed with former Vikings GM Jeff Diamond on his podcast this week, this is a classic trap scenario.

The Lynx rebounded to defeat Indiana on Thursday, but they enter the playoffs having lost four of their last six, and with their MVP candidate, Olivia Miles, nursing a calf strain. They will play New York in a best-of-three first-round playoff series. New York is capable of winning it all, so the Lynx earning the first seed has turned into a punishment.

A loss on Sunday would leave the Lynx one loss away from ruining what had been a wonderful season.

The Gophers play at Washington late Saturday night. A loss would leave them at 2-2 with four ranked opponents remaining on the schedule, and a theoretically promising season could turn into an apathy-inspiring slog.

The Vikings could sustain a loss more easily than the Lynx or Gophers. I also think they have the best chance to win. This should be Murray’s true introduction to Vikings fans. The Bucs will be playing to save their season, so I expect a close, difficult game, with the Vikings making one or two big plays to win it in the second.

What’s advantageous for the Vikings is that, if Murray plays well, they’re capable of making big plays on offense, defense and special teams.

-The hot listens: We have three Vikings podcasts at TalkNorth.com – The Viking Update Show, The Alec Lewis Show, and Jeff Diamond’s Vikings & NFL Insider. And WNBA analyst Lea B. Olsen was our guest on Dawn of Sports this week.

-Daily Thought: The number of key injuries to NFL players is already staggering this season. Sure, let’s add another game to the schedule.

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