Charley Walters: Bradford is key to more than his own future with Vikings

[purplefaithful]

The biggest question surrounding the Minnesota Vikings franchise as it opens training camp this week is who their quarterback will be going forward.
This season it’s Sam Bradford, 29, signed for $18 million, but settled for only this season. Ideally, the Vikings hope for a nice season, perhaps 10 victories, with Bradford playing well and remaining healthy. 
That scenario presumably would allow the Vikings enough confidence to extend Bradford’s contract. It also would mean general manager Rick Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer could feel confident in their positions.
But if Bradford doesn’t play well, or gets hurt, and the Vikings don’t make the playoffs for a second straight season, Minnesota likely would have to deal with finding a new QB.
Regardless of the polite rhetoric coming from the Vikings about QB Teddy Bridgewater’srehabilitation, it remains uncertain that Bridgewater, although just 24, can come back from his horrific knee injury nearly a year ago.
There is also the uncertainty about whether Bridgewater could survive another debilitating knee injury even if he’s eventually deemed healthy enough to play.
If Bradford and Bridgewater prove to be ineffective, who then would become the Vikings QB of the future?
Faced with that issue, Vikings ownership would have to decide whether to entrust Spielman and Zimmer with making the quarterback choice going forward. It’s clear that Vikings owners Zygi and Mark Wilf like Spielman and Zimmer. It’s also virtually certain the reason Zimmer is coach of the Vikings is Bill Parcells, whom the Wilfs have loved since he coached the New York Giants to two Super Bowl titles.
It’s also evident that it initially was Parcells whom the Wilfs wanted to coach the Vikings. But Parcells, 76, had made enough money and didn’t want to coach again.

People might think it was Spielman, as GM, who picked Zimmer. But it’s a good bet that it was Zygi Wilf, based on Parcells’ recommendation.
A microcosm of the Vikings’ immediate future will be how Bradford plays this season, which could determine who ends up running the football operation.
Zimmer and Spielman have to hope that not only do the Vikings have a playoff season, but that Bradford establishes himself as the team’s quarterback going forward.
It could be a very interesting year for Spielman and Zimmer.
By the way, if Bradford does prove worthy of a contract extension but can’t come to terms on a long-term deal, the Vikings still could put a NFL franchise tag on him in March. That would give the team control of Bradford for another year.
As for Bridgewater, if he beats the odds and comes back from his injury and is under contract for 2018, the Vikings still could trade him for a draft pick.
If the Vikings end up without a franchise QB after the season, they probably would have to draft one or trade for one.
After this season, it’s believed that Zimmer will have two years remaining on his contract worth between a total $8 million to $10 million. So even if he’s fired, he’ll have that to bank. But if at age 61, if it doesn’t work out with the Vikings, it would seem unlikely that Zimmer would get another shot at being a head coach in the NFL.
http://www.twincities.com/2017/07/22/cha...h-vikings/

[Guest]

I think Charley is being a bit melodramatic...  

[Guest]

If neither QB works out this year and then Zimmer is fired and the sky falls then what? Hopefully, we can only tune in!!

Wtf? lol...

We have 2017 in front of us and this guy is creating a story out of expected doom. How are BOTH QBs going to prove anything? Teddy will be out for half of the season. He isn't going to prove anything in half a season. Christian Ponder got how many years of having the benefit of the doubt? Teddy goes on the PUP and he's under contract. A FIRST ROUND PICK is going to have Teddy right next to him as a reason not to play a rookie right away.

The idea here is that Bradford could suck, and Teddy is a hit away from death. Both have ample time in 17 weeks to showcase they fucking suck so bad that Zimmer's contract terms come into question.

Bradford probably isn't going to lose the job through performance. Even if the coaches decide that's the case, Bradford probably still won't have a hard time finding a new job elsewhere. He is going to play at a very decent level. It would take an epic disaster for Bradford to play so poorly that we are begging for Teddy to come off the PUP.

What's a hell of a lot more likely is an injury, in this stupid doom scenario. An early season injury that derails early expectations. But the sooner Bradford goes down, the lesser he's proving to be inefficient. I mean, we're excited to heal from last year and get after 2017, you'd think that'd be the case with Bradford heading into '18 if he went down early...  Teddy would have the opportunity to prove it, but Bradford would be enticing if Teddy struggled. He'd be rebounding off of a pretty good 2016.

Bradford could play bad, but even then, how fast would they really make a switch? Each passing week after week 6 eats into the time for Teddy to prove he's ineffective. 

One guy is playing for a Franchise Tag. The other is contractually obligated to be here in 2018 if he starts the season on the PUP. How and the hell do we go from "both guys could be here in 2018, that is an unbelievable miracle," to "what if they both prove to be inefficient in 2017?" ... the season is upon us, and this guy is dreaming about next off-season...

It would take an absolute epic meltdown for us to walk out of the 2017 season feeling like we have no hope at the QB position in 2018. One where the details of Zimmer's contract extension only matter for a termination payout... ... unless that Meltdown occurs with Teddy remaining on the PUP all season; then it's a Bradford/Keenum hypothetical all season where Teddy never really got to prove he's ineffective. He'd be the guy in 2018.

[Guest]

I mean, Bradford certainly is the key to many things. His future, Teddy's future, ultimately his head coach and teammates future as well. I don't disagree with that at all.

I just didn't like the way it drifted to questioning the "what if" of such an extremely unlikely scenario. 

WHAT IF KASE KEENUM KICKED SOME ASS?! 

It's like... at this point, what are talking about? The Draft? ... There's 4 weeks of preseason and at least 6 weeks of season to discuss, dissect, breakdown and enjoy. There's no explanation of how Bradford might fail, or what even constitutes failure for Bradford. Winning games? Didn't exactly matter last year towards the end of the season. He was playing generally well regardless. If we're 0-7 when Teddy comes back, and Bradford is leading the league in completion %, is that "proving to be ineffective?"  ... no? Well, how is this gonna go down where we end up knowing we NEED a QB in 2018 again? It's not too hard to envision Bradford holding on to the job irregardless, and the longer a switch takes, the less time Teddy has to prove his career is over. 

If we need to draft a QB in 2018, Teddy is still under contract so... hurry up and fire Zimmer so Teddy doesn't have an in? lol...

I'd take another Teddy vs Bradford: Who's Better? debate at this point in time versus this "after we suck who are we gonna draft next April?" speculation... lol!!! The season is right here....

(italic font diarrhea everywhere! oooooops!)

[Guest]

What if the current board software didn't pan out? HMMMMM? What if we needed to migrate to another service, like Vanilla 4.0? HMMMMMMM? Olson signed a 1 year agreement, but it's unlikely he'd get another shot at running a message board.

cream:

I missed the part where Teddy "beats the odds" so Sid could trade him for a draft pick. Disregard all of my comments! Great teams with NOTHING at the position always trade away promising players for draft picks, what and the hell was I thinking?

[Guest]

Bradford is key to more than his own future with Vikings?I'm key to more than my own future in life. What if I die on the way to work, how many other peoples will be effed up. What if I screw around on my wife? how effed up will my wife and daughter be? What if I just start performing poorly at work?  How many of my customers and coworkers will have their lives changed? What about my manager and supervisor?
What a stupid what if article!