Who Will Steer The Viking Ship?
Jay Azizi
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As we head into what is shaping up to be a frenzied free agency period beginning March 12th, all eyes are focused on the North. The Vikings’ quarterback decision has become a national talking point, and there is abundant speculation over how they will act as we enter free agency. Will the Vikings opt to keep one of their three current quarterbacks, or will they look to make a big splash in free agency and sign Kirk Cousins?
Let’s break it down one by one and explain all the variables involved in assessing each of the four quarterbacks being considered by the team at the moment.
Teddy Bridgewater
Here’s what we know so far. NFL Network Insider, Ian Rapoport, stated this past Monday that the NFL is going to allow Teddy Bridgewater to become a free agent. Meaning his contract will NOT toll over an extra 5th season due to the fact he was placed on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list until week 10 during the 2017 season. It has also been reported that Vikings brass will not contend that decision and will go along with whatever the NFL decides on that issue. Therefore, we can squash all that toll talk.
It’s no secret how much Vikes’ fans seem to have an affection for Teddy, and for good reason. By all accounts he’s just a great person and teammate, and he was ascending towards a big 2016 season until that fateful day in late August when the unthinkable happened to him. If the team were to stick with Bridgewater and offer him a long-term extension, I would fully throw my support behind it on ONE condition. His contract would have to contain some type of built-in clause to protect the team in the event of another catastrophic knee injury to the same leg. Rick Spielman and the Minnesota Vikings cannot afford to risk the fate of this talented team on the highly questionable knee of Bridgewater. Let’s not forget, half of the players who have suffered the same injury have never played again.
Some make the claim that Bridgewater’s numbers don’t warrant a long-term extension regardless of his Knee injury. However, I believe his numbers also reflected the personnel he had around him as well as the system he played in. In his 1st season, Teddy Bridgewater was literally running for his life behind a bad pass blocking offensive line, most notably the human turnstile Matt Kalil. His most reliable pass catcher was Kyle Rudolph, and the offense under Norv Turner was built around the running game of Adrian Peterson. The defense was not yet built into the ELITE unit we have seen over the past two seasons, thus less opportunities existed for him and the offense which endured difficult game situations.
In addition, Norv Turner’s system of deeper vertical pass routes emphasized the play action off Peterson. That type of system requires excellent pass blocking to be successful, as those routes take longer to develop. Teddy is a very poised and accurate quarterback, but Turner’s offense did not mesh well with his strengths and weaknesses. Despite that, when he was healthy and the team fielded a solid defense, decent blocking, with a healthy Pederson, Bridgewater guided the Vikings to an 11-5 record in 2015. After the epic choke job by Blair Walsh in the Wildcard Playoff game versus the Seahawks, he took on some of the blame and pointed the finger at himself. In his post-game comments, he took it upon himself to say he needed to take the next step and do more for his team. It was almost as if Bridgewater was acknowledging it was time to take the reins of the offense from Adrian Pederson and leave behind the “game manager” label unfairly placed on him.
Fast forward to preseason 2016, a noticeably bulked up Bridgewater was looking poised to take that next step and seemed confident as ever during his play in those pre-season games. But, sadly we know what happened next. A brutal non-contact injury in practice just 11 days before the season opener dealt a crushing blow to a team that many had pegged as a dark horse to win the Super Bowl. Bridgewater nearly lost his leg had it not been for the quick action of medical personnel. Removing the knee injury from the equation, I have full confidence in Teddy’s ability to be the franchise quarterback who we all envision taking us to the Super Bowl. There is no reason to think he can’t put up the same or better numbers and have the same success that Keenum did in 2017. Case had a better system to play under Pat Shurmur, a much better offensive line, better pass catchers, and more versatile and younger running backs compared to what Teddy had to work with. However, you can’t simply pretend the injury did not happen, and it would be wise for the team to factor in this risk in any potential contract talks with him.
Case Keenum
Up until the Vikings took the field in Philadelphia for the NFC championship game, it looked like it was “case closed” after the Minneapolis Miracle. But that changed with a decisive 38-7 loss to the Eagles in the title game where no one aside from perhaps Jerick McKinnon played well. This past week, it was reported that the team will let Case Keenum test free agency after the team decided NOT to use the Transition or Franchise Tag on him. Now that does not necessarily mean the team isn’t interested in him. Depending on how things play out with Kirk Cousins and Teddy Bridgewater, they could let Case test the free-agency market and then decide whether they would like to also make him an offer. So Vikings fans shouldn’t rule out Keenum yet, because he played extremely well for the Vikings in 2017 while going 12-3 in relief of Sam Bradford, and none will ever forget the Minneapolis Miracle which he helped orchestrate. It would not surprise me at all if Keenum ends up getting offered 2-year deal from the Vikings if the team is unable to come to an agreement with Cousins or Bridgewater.
Sam Bradford
Here is a name that we just haven’t heard much of recently after his ongoing knee troubles in 2017 derailed what looked to be a promising start versus the Saints in Week 1. In my mind, Bradford really showed how tough of a guy he was in 2016 after the beating he took behind a decimated and injury-ravaged season to the offense, particularly the offensive line. I will never call Sam soft again.
Unfortunately, the reality quite frankly is that Bradford’s knees cannot be trusted based on his injury history throughout his NFL Career. No smart team is going to throw a big contract at Sam with a ton of guaranteed money. He’ll likely be commanding 1-2 year deals for the rest of his career bouncing back and forth between backup and starting roles for teams.
Kirk Cousins
Now, let’s address the elephant in the room, the big free agent fish Kirk Cousins. The fact that this talented of a quarterback is even available in free agency at age 29, entering his prime, is fascinating to say the least. It’s also a testament to how incompetent the Washington Redskins management and ownership is. But that’s another story I won’t get into. Listen folks, Kirk Cousins is a VERY talented quarterback, and he’s a bit under-rated athletically as well. As a matter of fact, his 13 Rushing Touchdowns over the past three seasons only trail two other quarterbacks, Cam Newton and Tyrod Taylor.
Yes, you read that correctly and Kirk Cousins has more rushing touchdowns since 2015 than quarterbacks like Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers! His win-loss record in my mind is more of a reflection of poor management and circumstantial things that have taken place in the nation’s capital with player-personnel decisions.
Let’s take a closer look at the 2017 season he had. Cousins lost some very important pieces to his offense when they allowed Pierre Garcon and Desean Jackson to leave during free agency. They attempted to replace his go-to receiver Garçon with Terrell Pryor, and it failed miserably to the extent that he was even benched. They drafted Josh Doctson who was supposed to replace Jackson as their deep threat and big-play guy. But he has been plagued with various injuries during his first two seasons and missed a lot of games and practice time. Jordan Reed is an extremely talented TE, but this guy can’t stay healthy if his life depended on it. Jamison Crowder was his most consistent pass catcher in 2017. Vernon Davis, despite his age, proved to be a capable fill-in tight end to replace Reed, but he’s a shell of the player he was during his prime. The running back situation was no better. Rob Kelley was expected to be their early-down grinder with rookie Semaje Perine thrown in the mix and scatback Chris Thompson handling passing down situations. Kelley’s impact was minimal in 2017 prior to being lost for the season to an injury, while Perine struggled during his rookie campaign. Thompson, the lone bright spot, was playing extremely well until he was lost for the season due to a fractured leg Week 11. Meanwhile, the offensive line that Cousins played behind in 2017 was ravaged by injuries and practically held together by duct tape. Sound familiar Vikes’ fans?
Yet despite all these circumstances surrounding Kirk Cousins and an inconsistent defense, he STILL managed to finish the 2017 season passing for over 4,000 yards and 27 touchdowns good for 8th best in the NFL. This was Cousin’s third season in a row passing for over 4,000 yards making him the 11th Quarterback in NFL history to accomplish that feat. He also cracked the top 10 in completions, completion percentage and passing yards in 2017. Anyone who tells you these stats are meaningless and inflated isn’t looking deep enough. Upon closer examination, his performance and statistics were extremely impressive, and one could assume that Cousins is capable of putting up even better numbers with more efficiency if he played for the Minnesota Vikings. Try to Envision what he could do with a strong revamped offensive Vikings O-line, Dalvin Cook, Latavius Murray, Kyle Rudolph, Stefon Diggs, and Adam Thielen, under newly hired offensive coordinator John DeFilippo? Imagine if he had the benefit of playing on a team that boasted the number one ranked defense in the NFL? One would think that Kirk Cousins would be a much more efficient quarterback with the team we have in Minnesota surrounding him and we would see a reduction in his turnovers as well.
These are all variables which have to make Vikings fans ponder, how good could Kirk Cousins really be if he played for the Vikings? I am certainly intrigued, and I’m confident that Vikings brass is going to give him some serious consideration to be the franchise quarterback for this team. The free agent quarterback was recently quoted stating,
“It’s a pretty short checklist. At the end of the day I want to win. I was just talking to coach Weiss earlier and he made it clear: ‘Hey, go where you can win.’ And that’s exactly what the plan is….There are a ton of variables that decide whether we think we can win, but that will ultimately be what makes the decision.”
It’s worth noting that Cousins already made some nice coin playing under the franchise tag the past two seasons in the nation’s capital. Either way, Vikings fans won’t have to wait much longer to find out, and we can expect some fireworks very soon when free agency officially begins on March 12th.