The Detroit Lions won’t be the only high-flying offense in the NFC North next season.
The Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears will return strong units led by talented quarterbacks and skilled playcallers. The Lions’ loaded offense stocked with playmakers is likely to again rank among the league’s best. But the unit who perhaps stands more to gain in 2026 than any of those teams is the Minnesota Vikings.
Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton promoted this notion by featuring Minnesota in his “5 Most Improved Offenses Ahead of 2026 NFL Training Camp” article published on the site Monday.
Moton argued the offseason bargain-bin addition of quarterback Kyler Murray could be one of the singular most impactful offensive pickups of this offseason. He’s likely to replace former first round pick J.J. McCarthy as the Vikings’ starting quarterback.
Moton wrote:
"The Vikings will have a new dynamic starting quarterback and one of the league's best receiver trios this year. Expect this offense to rack up points as one of the top 10 scoring units."Moe Moton, Bleacher Report
NFC North could really tally up some points in 2026
McCarthy was arguably the league’s worst starting quarterback last season. He completed just 57.6% of his passes for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 10 starts.
The Vikings finished just 27th in total offense as the team went 9-8 following a 14-3 season with the league’s 12th ranked offense the year before. We’ll spare you the Sam Darnold debate, but it’s safe to say Minnesota’s offense failed to meet expectations in 2025.
Enter Murray, who was unceremoniously released after seven seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. He had some great moments in the desert and earned a fat contract extension, but playoff success eluded the team and injuries plagued the former No. 1 overall pick.
Like Moton said in his article, Murray will need to stay healthy for any of this to matter, and that's no guarantee. But he’s still got a live arm and real playmaking chops, and will join forces with one of the league’s best receiver duos in the all-world Justin Jefferson and high-end No. 2 Jordan Addison.
Minnesota also brought in big bodied target Jauan Jennings as its No. 3 option after a productive final season in San Francisco where he caught 55 passes for 643 yards and nine touchdowns.
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Head coach and playcaller Kevin O’Connell is touted as one of the NFL’s top quarterback whisperers and Moton pointed out he has called three top-six passing offenses in his four years as Vikings coach.
There remain questions about Minnesota’s running backs and tight end room, like if Aaron Jones is still a needle-moving back or if T.J. Hockenson will ever regain his 2020-23 form. But even with that, it looks like the Vikings have the tools to be one of the NFL’s top offenses if Murray can be a substantial upgrade over McCarthy.
That’s not great news for the Lions, who were swept by Minnesota last season despite McCarthy and undrafted rookie Max Brosmer starting in those two games. If the Vikings can pair an improved offense with another ferocious Brian Flores defense, there might not be a single bad team in the NFC North.
It should be a very, very interesting season up north if Murray can stay healthy and provide the Vikings with strong quarterback play.
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