Vikings QB situation

I'm working on some ideas for a mock draft for the website and twitter. I had this idea pop into my head, and wanted to bounce off the idea. Is it possible that none of the 3 Vikings main QBs return next year?

For starters, Keenum could certainly end up being in a bid war and be deemed too expensive for their tastes.

I've got a weird feeling Bridgewater won't be back. When Bradford finally got healthy, Bridgewater was bumped down to third string. Could that be a sign they don't have faith in Bridgewater to be the same, but wanted to not look like the bad guys during a good season by releasing him during said season?

Finally, I think Bradford could end up being the most likely to come back, but that's strictly hypothetical.

I guess what I'm thinking is that it's possible the Vikings screw the pooch, lose all three QBs, and end up having to draft a QB.

Any thoughts?

 

Interesting thought. While entirely possible, I am going to say unlikely. I have been on record with the prediction they sign 2 of their 3 FA to be QBs (Bridgewater and Keenum). I don't believe Keenum will reach free agency, they should lock him up shortly after the Super Bowl, well before the start of free agency. I would be shocked if Keenum is not in purple next season unless they unexpectedly go after Alex Smith or Kirk Cousins. They might still draft a QB, but not until day 3. Neither Bridgewater nor Bradford should get big deals due to their injury history, doubt either player would sign anything longer than a 1 or 2 season deal with big incentives.

 

Its a unique situation, one I have never seen before... Vikings have 4 QB's on the roster and 3 are FA's. I honestly don't think they know right now what their going to do till some offers come in on luring the FA's away.

I don't think the Vikings are going to want to pay big for any of them and that might make Keenum the best target for an extension, but is he the future and can he win a SB?

I agree Bradford and Bridgewater have been injury bitten, but out of the 2 id prefer Teddy to get the extension.

Right now as it stands, keenum may be the only one who could claim a big extension, but its so hard to judge what he really is based on 1 season.

Glad I'm not the Wilfes or Speilman - they got some figuring to do... some real tricky figuring.

Bottom line... I have no idea what the hell they are or should do. Too bad they didn't see this coming and have one of them already extended.

 

an honest question, of the three who has the highest ceiling? not taking in to account injury history Id think its Bradford or Bridgewater. of course not taking injury history in to account would be a huge mistake here. banking on Bradford to be healthy for the post season seems risky at best.

 

Well Bradford needed to prove he could stay healthy before they would give him an extension, Bridgewater was uncertain to be able to play again, and Keenum was coming off a disappointing season with the Rams, not even guaranteed to make the roster. I totally understand why this happened, though I think they regret not giving Keenum a 2 year deal. He'd still need a new deal but it would have kept him off the market.

 

Without taking the health factors into consideration, I would agree Bradford had the highest ceiling. Bridgewater and Keenum are game managers while Bradford has franchise QB ability. I don't mean the game manager title to be derogatory at all, in fact they can be quite successful. They thrive with a balanced attack and good defense, which fits what the Vikings have at the moment. You can't depend on Bradford to stay healthy so you can't invest big $$$ in him. I honestly don't think he has ever played a full 16 game season. If he has, it's definitely been rare

 

So if they’re paying Keenum something comparable to what Glennon got do they have enough money to sign Bridgewater? Would think he’s looking at a 1 year deal.

 

I believe so, Bridgewater likely won't get a big offer from anyone, maybe around the $5-7 million range plus incentives for play. I believe he will get the best offer from the Vikings, but he might choose to go elsewhere where he has a better chance for a starting gig, for example Cleveland (where he should have been drafted if they didn't F it up) or Buffalo. I don't think he will accept anything but a one year deal so he can prove himself and earn a big deal. If he stays with the Vikings, he'll get a chance to prove he can play in pre-season and be ready to go if Keenum proves to be a one-year wonder. Not likely IMO, but not impossible. He should be about as close to 100% as he is going to get coming into TC this year.

 

Someone make the case for why they think Bridgewater will ever be a competent starting QB. Keenum and Bradford have succeeded for the Vikings. Why Bridgewater would even be a part of the equation I can't understand.

But hey - I won't stop Minnesota from spending bad money...

 

Easy, because Bridgewater was a 1st round pick that played very well before he got injured.

I don't see how that is hard to comprehend.

 

Joe, he didn't play anywhere near as good as Keenum or Bradford (1 game). But I wouldn't touch Bradford and his shot knees with a 100' pole.

 

1. Really? A 'draft pick' argument?

2. "Played very well": 28 TD's to 21 INT's, and never able to cross the 14 TD threshold in a year. Oh, but 4 rushing TD's, you say? Also 11 fumbles.

Let's be clear: Teddy Ponder has had a small body of work to this point. But, if he wasn't a first round pick in a QB-starved league, he'd barely be making a roster (accepting a role as "still room to grow?"), let alone potentially being prioritized over Bradford or Keenum, or even in that discussion.

So, I guess technically the 'draft pick' argument was appropriate, just for a very different reason.

 

14 and 12 1st year, then he went to 14 and only 9 INTs with an 11-5 record the next year and made the Pro Bowl.

He wasn't great but he was doing his job and improving. Bradford and Keenum did do better but they are vets. Bridgewater hasn't been a world beater but he was developing exactly how most teams would wish their franchise QBs of the future would develop. Unfortunately an injury complicated matters.

 

I really think the Vikings will look for a cheap veteran and keep Bridgewater on a 2 yr bridge contract on the cheap side.

 

Only if Keenum gets a huge deal somewhere else.

 

If Bridgewater's numbers were applied to this year, he would be well within the bottom 10 of TD%, and bottom 10 of INT%, joining names like Kizer, Beathard, Hundley, and Brissett. I recognize that numbers aren't sole indicators of current/future success, but anyone who actually watched this guy play should've seen the same thing.

The nation is constantly talking about whether or not a team like Jacksonville needs to upgrade its QB situation in order to go the distance. All of the QB's in those discussions are performing better than Bridgewater did.

Christian Ponder had very similar numbers in his one full season, and nobody remembers him as a font of untapped potential. Every year there's a new guy within his first 2 seasons lighting the league on fire. I bet the Vikings wish Bridgewater was one of them.

You can't just wave the injury away. His ceiling was mediocrity at best, and then he had a catastrophic injury. I'm glad the guy beat it, but if you're an NFL team, why you sign that guy for anything more than league minimum and a prayer is beyond me. People love their hype trains.

 

1. I never waved off the injury. It is a big issue since it isn't resolved.
2. His ceiling was mediocrity at best? You sir have been spoiled by rookie QBs coming on the scene quickly in the last decade.
3. You sign him because just like draft picks are lottery balls so would his contract. The price you pay for your ticket is what the market dictates. Many teams would love him as a backup.

If he is smart he'll stick with the Vikings on a 2-year deal or something. After he will likely hit the market again as a proven commodity or stick around with the Vikings.

And Bortles has been worst than Bridgewater in all his years. Pick any year of each where they played more than a few snaps. Bridgewater was better each time. Yes I'd say Bridgewater's 2014 rookie season was better than Bortles' 2015 "breakout" season. TDs make everything look better.

 

Whats the bottom line in your opinion, dline? Who would you sign or what FA route would you go if you were the guy who could pull the trigger? Just curious. I'm personally clueless (which is the norm for me) and really don't like evaluating or projecting any of the QB's in this discussion. Its an akward situation and if the Vikes wanna spend money, maybe a Cousins deal could be had, at least for the long term, but Cousins likes the 1 year deals, lol. Its just tough to project the future, but that's why some folks make the big bucks and if their right they look like a genious and if wrong they get run outa town.

Ive tried to glean the Vikings web-sites and everything looks pretty murky there also.

 

Keenum is the only choice.

And Joe, Bortles had 30 something TD passes one season, Bridgewater can't touch that season. That's when the whole Jaguars hype train began. Two seasons later they finally made the playoffs.

 

Bortles did not do that well in his 30 TD season. It was lipstick on a pig. Everyone and their comatose grandmothers saw a regression coming the next year. That doesn't mean everyone thought he was a fraud. It just meant that he was putting up basic stats way over his head and it was evident if you watched him play or his other stats. He was expected to improve even if his fantasy numbers dropped but he was even worse and showed no real signs of improvement on an individual level. He bounced back a bit this year but it had more to do with the rest of the team stepping up (mainly the run and OLine) than it had to do with him. Bridgewater in his rookie year looked better and had many better stats outside fantasy numbers than Bortles did that one year.