Inside The Vikings

Vikings UFA Profile: QB Josh Dobbs

Dobbs had an incredible, albeit brief, moment in the sun in 2023.

Will Ragatz

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With the 2023 season in the books, Inside the Vikings is taking a look at all 22 of Minnesota's pending unrestricted free agents over the course of a few weeks. We're examining their past and speculating about their future, particularly the likelihood that they could be re-signed by the Vikings this offseason. We started from the least important (Hakeem Adeniji) and are working our way up to the big fish (Kirk Cousins).

Vikings UFA profile: QB Josh Dobbs

Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
  • Age: 29
  • 2023 stats (with Vikings): 5 games, 95/151 passing, 5 TDs, 5 INTs, 163 rushing yards, 3 rushing TDs
  • 2023 contract AAV: $2 million

For a brief moment, Josh Dobbs was the biggest story of the 2023 NFL season. Acquired at the trade deadline to help the Vikings replace the injured Kirk Cousins, Dobbs was on his third team in three months and his fifth in two years. Just a few days after arriving in Minnesota for the first time, he was thrust into action in Atlanta when Jaren Hall got injured in the first quarter. Dobbs hardly knew the playbook, which made it all the more incredible when he threw two touchdowns and ran for a third in a jaw-dropping comeback victory over the Falcons. With Kevin O'Connell walking him through each play over the headset, Dobbs pulled off several magical scrambles and threw the game-winning TD on a play he had never repped before.

A week later, Dobbs had two more touchdowns in the first half as the Vikings cruised to a 24-3 lead over the Saints, then held on for their fifth consecutive victory. "The Passtronaut" looked unstoppable. He was the talk of the nation. But then things went south. Cracks showed a bit in the second half against the Saints and in a one-point loss in Denver, even though Dobbs made history in that Broncos game. Then it all unraveled, as Dobbs threw four interceptions against the Bears and was benched in the second half of an abysmal performance against the Raiders. He didn't throw another pass the rest of the way.

Now Dobbs, who recently turned 29, is a free agent. Regardless of what happens with Kirk Cousins, it seems unlikely that Dobbs will be back in Minnesota, because Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall are both under contract in 2024 as backup options. So Dobbs will probably be headed to another team, which is nothing new to him. He should be able to compete for a backup job, and who knows — maybe he'll have another moment in the sun someday.

Previous Vikings UFA profiles:

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