It is shaping up to be the decision that could shake
the foundation of the Minnesota Vikings for years to come. Find the right quarterback to steer a
fundamentally well-built team on the right course toward Valhalla; in layman’s
terms, sign the guy that might reverse nearly 60 years of heartbreak by guiding
the Vikings to their first Lombardi Trophy.
Vikings fans have been through this before. In a well-remembered tale, longtime adversary
Brett Favre donned the purple and gold for one magical season, and one that was
anything but. The less said about
Donovan McNabb in purple, the better.
Josh Freeman? I have successfully
repressed that memory. The current
situation is different; while Freeman was a young man who could have stuck
around if not for that horrendous Monday night game, Favre’s tenure was a short
window-opening, and the window slammed shut on fans’ fingers in 2010. McNabb was the NFL equivalent of a
transitional champion in professional wrestling; someone with name recognition
holding the belt until the higher-ups decide “the kid” (or another better
quarterback) is ready.
In 2011, “the kid” was Christian Ponder, who
ultimately didn’t pan out. In 2014, the
Vikings tried again with Teddy Bridgewater, who began his career in Week 3
after an injury to Matt Cassel (with Ponder still on the team at the
time). The jury is still out on Teddy
after a horrific knee injury completely derailed any season he may have had in
2016 or 2017 after a reasonably successful, though not flashy 2015.
Indeed, the biggest on-the-field crime of the Adrian
Peterson era was not building all that well around him. For a long time, Adrian carried the team to
some pretty mediocre records, but without him things would have been far
worse. In many respects, the Vikings
have had the same problem as the Packers. While Green Bay has been recently exposed as
a nearly-incompetent offense/team without Aaron Rodgers, the Vikings for
several years would have been as incompetent without Adrian Peterson. While the Packers have only managed one trip
and one Super Bowl win with the career Rodgers has had, it is still one more
than the Vikings have even sniffed since 1977; yes, the Raiders loss predates
the entire Star Wars franchise by about four months.
For the Minnesota Vikings as a franchise and a
fanbase frothing at the mouth for “just one before (they) die,” the Minneapolis
Miracle— ten seconds which turned back decades of agony for one week— was nice
but not quite nice enough. In a season
where the hype built on a weekly basis as every Minnesota fan knew they were hosting the biggest sporting
event in the nation and one of the biggest in the entire world, they were
ultimately left out in the cold, once again trophy-less and ring-less. Let the “no rings” and “empty trophy case”
jokes fly for another year.
Now, a decision needs to be made. Free agency looms and the Vikings must decide
who to bring back and who to add in order to position the team for another run
at glory. Fans do not want to wait
another eight years just to win a playoff game.
Some were in high school when the Vikings beat the Packers in the 2004
wild card game. Those same people likely
sat in their dorm rooms watching the Vikings beat the Cowboys in the 2009
divisional playoff game.
Oh wait, I’m describing my own experiences. Moving on…
Losing via Bountygate hung over the franchise like a
dark cloud, and the Minneapolis Miracle was the first playoff win for the team
since that fateful night nine years prior.
Other teams win playoff games with great regularity, so why can’t the
Vikings?
After leading Minnesota to 13 of 14 wins after a
mysterious knee injury sidelined Sam Bradford,
Case Keenum seemed like a solid
choice to try again in 2018, but he’s off to a well-deserved contract and
likely the starting job in Denver according to the latest reports. Bradford, who got saddled to an
injury-riddled 2016 Vikings team, is being pursued by the Buffalo Bills after
they sent Tyrod Taylor to the Browns.
Drew Brees was thought to be available, but only for
a nanosecond, as the Saints signed him to a two-year deal that will likely have
him finish his career there. I am not
looking forward to the potential revenge for the MM should the Vikings and
Saints make the playoffs and face off again.
In the end, the only option at this point is
to make a play for Kirk Cousins, and it sounds likely that the Vikings will
land him. The real question is how do
you construct the team for a situation like last year if (God forbid) it
happens again? Honestly, Josh McCown at
the right price wouldn’t be a bad option to have around for a year. Or just keep Teddy as a backup and/or draft a
guy. You need some kind of insurance
policy if things go dreadfully wrong.
Last year, the Vikings lost their starting quarterback and almost made
it to the Super Bowl because they had such a plan in place. I don’t think any of us could have predicted
such a run for Case Keenum, but it certainly beats the daylights out of the
alternative (Aaron Rodgers walks into A. Barr and the Packers’ season goes with
him).
With the NFL news cycle going crazy, free agency
truly is the most wonderful time of the year.
Whichever direction the Vikings decide to take, I just hope it doesn’t
take another decade to make it back to the NFC title game.
(Edit: It appears likely that Kirk Cousins will indeed sign a 3 year contract tomorrow.)
No comments:
Post a Comment