Kyler Murray will sit out Monday night with a strained hamstring. Judd Zulgad, an analyst who covers the Minnesota Vikings, thinks a decent night from his replacement should be enough to end Murray’s time in Minnesota before the trade deadline.

That replacement is Carson Wentz, whom head coach Kevin O’Connell named to start against the Buffalo Bills. Kickoff at U.S. Bank Stadium is at 8:15 p.m. ET on Monday, and the trade deadline falls at 4 p.m. ET the next afternoon.

Why Judd Zulgad Points to Kyler Murray’s One-Year Contract

Murray strained the hamstring in the 19-15 loss at Detroit on Nov. 1. It was the first loss of the season for the Vikings, who sit atop the NFC North at 6-1. This is the second time this season Murray’s health has opened the door for Wentz, after a concussion cost Murray most of two games earlier in the year.

This time, Wentz draws a Buffalo team that matches Minnesota’s record and leads the AFC East.

Zulgad laid out the stakes in one breath: “If Carson Wentz looks decent on Monday night, which obviously is the goal, I don’t think we expect him to be prime Joe Montana, I’m gonna make the case that Kyler Murray will and should be traded by Tuesday.”

Zulgad’s case rests on more than one game, though. Murray’s contract is part of it.

“He’s on a one-year contract. I don’t know that you really need to like stroke his ego and say, ‘You’ll be fine.’ So why are you telling the world that he’s day-to-day? It’s a hamstring, it’s a mobile quarterback,” Zulgad said.

O’Connell put it differently Thursday, along with his reason for holding Murray out: “I don’t believe it to be much more than a week-to-week kind of thing right now. But for him, his movement skills and the way he plays the game, we do feel like we’d be putting him at risk of possibly turning this into a more significant injury than it is by trying to have him work through it here early on.”

Zulgad’s yardstick for a good night is Justin Jefferson: “But if Carson Wentz looks like he can do the job, and by the way, that means eight catches for Jefferson for 105 yards and a touchdown or two…”

That would be a big jump from Detroit, where Jefferson, who ranks 17th on PFN’s WR Metric, caught five of nine targets for 33 yards, one of them a 1-yard touchdown from Murray.

Wentz has a track record with Jefferson. Across two seasons, Jefferson has caught 44 passes for 615 yards in the seven games Wentz has started or mostly played since joining the Vikings in August 2025, and Minnesota is 4-3 in that stretch.

O’Connell made his own case for the backup: “[Wentz] is the perfect guy in a moment where you can’t have Kyler out there at full strength to go in there. And we feel very strongly about when Carson’s in there, we’re going to get really effective quarterback play.”

Speaking earlier this week, Wentz kept it simple: “I’ve enjoyed being here. I enjoy this offense, enjoy this team, enjoy working with [O’Connell] and I’m excited for another opportunity.”

In limited work this season, Wentz has completed 23 of 39 passes for 276 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Monday’s start, his second of the season, is the Vikings’ last game before a deadline that passes less than 20 hours after kickoff.