Training camp is only hours away and one can already smell football season approaching. The next few weeks and months will be crucial for the trajectory of various players’ careers and that includes some high-profile players in the Twin Cities.
Jordan Addison and Kyler Murray are two that come to mind. Both have plenty of money riding on the 2026 campaign, with contract decisions looming in the near future. But the numbers on that contract entirely depend on the upcoming campaign in which Murray and Addison are supposed to elevate each other’s game.
Apparently, the duo has already put in some work to hit the ground running. Various practice sessions over the summer could lead to explosive results.
Why Dallas? Well, Murray is from Texas. In fact, he’s from the Dallas suburbs, so that makes sense. Addison, a Maryland native, joined his potential new passer there. A cool connection is that both starred under coach Lincoln Riley in college: Murray at Oklahoma and Addison at USC.
Whether a few offseason workouts ultimately make a difference is impossible to know. What isn’t up for debate, however, is the importance of the upcoming season for both players.
Kyler Murray
Murray entered the league in 2019 as the reigning Heisman winner and first overall pick. He was supposed to bring the Cardinals to relevancy, but even a player that talented couldn’t pull that off. Sure, there are some flaws in his game. His stature is certainly not that of an NFL quarterback and his play has mostly been inconsistent throughout his career.
Arizona decided to eat a ton of dead salary cap to part ways with him without even having a real successor on the squad. For the Vikings, it was a no-brainer to invest a whopping $1.3 million to sign him in March.
In seven seasons, Murray has shown the ability to be a decent player in the league. He has gone to a couple of Pro Bowls and appeared in some MVP conversations earlier in his career. The injury luck hasn’t been too kind to him. Only minor issues in his first three seasons were followed by a torn ACL in 2022. That injury cost him the end of that year and the first half of 2023. After a full 2024 campaign, Murray missed most of 2025 due to a foot injury that possibly lasted longer because the Cardinals aimed for the best possible draft capital.
Murray is now stuck in a quarterback competition and has already voiced his dissatisfaction with the situation. He needs reps with his teammates to learn the offense and his pass-catchers’ tendencies. If half the reps go to J.J. McCarthy, that’s certainly not helpful. Offseason workouts are a good way to supplement the team drills, though.
The veteran signal-caller is immensely gifted, and the Vikings have an offense capable of bringing out the best in quarterbacks. Kevin O’Connell and Justin Jefferson are two more reasons to believe Murray can revive his career.
As he’s on a one-year contract, his upcoming play (and health) will decide his fate in next year’s free agency.
Jordan Addison
Addison is another highly skilled player, whose off-field headlines have clouded the on-field production. He arrived in the Twin Cities three years ago and quickly established himself as one of the best young wideouts in the league.
Unfortunately, even before he stepped onto the football field, a speeding ticket caused some concern. In July 2023, he was cited with a misdemeanor speeding charge, going 140 mph on a Twin City freeway.
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert recapped the second incident last summer, “Addison, the Vikings’ first-round pick in 2023, was charged in July 2024 with driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with at least a .08% blood alcohol concentration after a West Los Angeles police officer found him asleep at the wheel of a white Rolls Royce that was blocking a lane of I-105 westbound near the Los Angeles airport (LAX).”
The first issue went unpunished by the NFL, but the second landed him a three-game suspension. Then, in January, he was hit with a misdemeanor trespassing charge that was dropped shortly thereafter, but left room for overreaction in the first few days after the news hit the airwaves.
On the field, Addison has shown great playmaking ability en route to 2,396 receiving yards and 22 scores (as well as another 103 yards and one touchdown as a rusher). He’s been a wonderful wingman for Justin Jefferson and is in line for a major payday. The Vikings picked up his fifth-year option in the spring and Addison is now under contract through the 2027 season.
Though he’s already eligible for an extension, the franchise will likely wait for next year to see if he can stay out of trouble and how his game evolves in 2026. Like most receivers, his numbers dipped in 2025 with the subpar quarterback play. Building chemistry with Murray is one way to help avoid another statistical dip.
Murray and Addison can only control so much once the season begins, but they’ve already taken the first step by investing time together before training camp. Whether that chemistry translates onto the field won’t be known until September, yet both players understand the stakes. Their performances in 2026 won’t just shape the Vikings’ season; they could define the next chapter of their own careers.
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