The Minnesota Vikings placed first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy on injured reserve and signed Birmingham Stallions quarterback Matt Corral on Friday, the NFL team announced.

The Vikings chose McCarthy 10th in the NFL Draft on April 25. But the former Michigan quarterback had surgery to repair a meniscus tear on Wednesday, and the recovery will keep the QB sidelined for the 2024 season. McCarthy sustained the knee injury in Minnesota’s preseason opener – a 24-23 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday.

Corral and Adrian Martinez began the 2024 United Football League season sharing the duties at quarterback for Birmingham before Martinez handled Game 3 and Corral took Game 4. Martinez came back as the starter for Game 5 and never relinquished the role as he went on to win the UFL Most Valuable Player Award.

Corral did play one more time for Birmingham. In the USFL Conference Championship Game, Corral came off the bench in an 18-18 tie with the Michigan Panthers and threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes as the Stallions advanced to the UFL Championship Game with a 31-18 victory.

Martinez returned for the league title game and went the distance in Birmingham’s 25-0 victory over the San Antonio Brahmas.

Martinez signed with the New York Jets on July 27. In New York’s preseason opener on Saturday, he completed 6-of-10 passes for 104 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions and ran twice for 24 yards. Martinez directed a nine-play, 56-yard series that resulted in the deciding field goal with 21 seconds to play in the Jets’ 20-17 victory.

For the Stallions in 2024, Corral completed 36-of-62 passes for 494 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions and ran for 104 yards on 15 carries during the regular season.

Corral originally entered the NFL from Ole Miss as a third-round selection of the Carolina Panthers in the 2022 draft. Corral sustained a foot injury in a preseason contest that sidelined him for the 2022 campaign. He played in three 2023 preseason games for the Panthers, who had used the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft on Alabama quarterback Bryce Young. Carolina cut Corral at the end of the preseason, and he spent a couple of weeks as the New England Patriots’ No. 3 QB before being waived on Sept. 18.

Corral joins Sam Darnold, former Spain Park High School star Nick Mullens and Jarren Hall as the quarterbacks on the Minnesota roster.

The Vikings play their second preseason game against the Cleveland Browns at 3:25 p.m. CDT Saturday at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.