One QB in the Hand is Worth Two In the Bush

I think the team has to sign Case to a multi-year deal at this point.  No way do you let a QB who has had this kind of success just walk out the door.

I think what happens with Teddy is basically up to him.  If he is ok with competing for the starting job and signing an incentive-laden deal, I could see the team bringing him back as well.  However, if he insists on a franchise QB type of contract after not seeing the field for 2 seasons, I think the team's hand will be forced and they'll have to let him walk.  I hope that's not the case.

They could also bring back Sam as the veteran backup but I doubt he would ever sign for that type of money considering what he's been paid so far over his career.  Maybe only if he thought his knee could only hold up for a few games at a time and still had the desire to play.

Once again, it's never boring in Vikings-land, even in the offseason.

I think Sam is done here - I just don't see him next spring competing to start with Case or Teddy. My gut tells me he will retire

I still want to see how Teddy would perform with this O-Line / Offensive scheme. I think he would be excellent. Going to be very interesting off season, wether we win the Super Bowl or not - BIG QB Decisions will be made.

I see either Teddy or Case being our starter next year, with the young guy we picked up, Sloter, as the back up IF he has been showing great promise.

@"NorthernCalVike" said: I still want to see how Teddy would perform with this O-Line / Offensive scheme. I think he would be excellent. Going to be very interesting off season, wether we win the Super Bowl or not - BIG QB Decisions will be made.

I see either Teddy or Case being our starter next year, with the young guy we picked up, Sloter, as the back up IF he has been showing great promise.

How much money would that tie up in the QB position to sign them both?  Case is going to get a starting QB salary with the way he's playing, but Teddy may get that too.   I think the Vikes have to go with a proven QB, and I agree.  Teddy might be better, but maybe not.  If Case is playing well, and the team is winning, then who cares if Sam and Teddy leave?  We don't need two starting QBs.

@"HappyViking" said:

@"NorthernCalVike" said: I still want to see how Teddy would perform with this O-Line / Offensive scheme. I think he would be excellent. Going to be very interesting off season, wether we win the Super Bowl or not - BIG QB Decisions will be made.

I see either Teddy or Case being our starter next year, with the young guy we picked up, Sloter, as the back up IF he has been showing great promise.

How much money would that tie up in the QB position to sign them both?  Case is going to get a starting QB salary with the way he's playing, but Teddy may get that too.   I think the Vikes have to go with a proven QB, and I agree.  Teddy might be better, but maybe not.  If Case is playing well, and the team is winning, then who cares if Sam and Teddy leave?  We don't need two starting QBs.

@"SFVikingFan" said:

@"HappyViking" said:

@"NorthernCalVike" said: I still want to see how Teddy would perform with this O-Line / Offensive scheme. I think he would be excellent. Going to be very interesting off season, wether we win the Super Bowl or not - BIG QB Decisions will be made.

I see either Teddy or Case being our starter next year, with the young guy we picked up, Sloter, as the back up IF he has been showing great promise.

How much money would that tie up in the QB position to sign them both?  Case is going to get a starting QB salary with the way he's playing, but Teddy may get that too.   I think the Vikes have to go with a proven QB, and I agree.  Teddy might be better, but maybe not.  If Case is playing well, and the team is winning, then who cares if Sam and Teddy leave?  We don't need two starting QBs.

I think the past couple of years have shown us that you can never have too many starting-caliber QBs on your roster.  ;)  We are on our 3rd starter in the past 16 months.

Case needs to win the next 7 games to get a long term deal imo

I don't think Sam even plays a role in this story, except as perhaps a cautionary tale for the team's approach to Teddy Bridgewater.

As I've said before, in my mind, Thanksgiving saw Case Keenum's narrative turn a corner from "rental QB playing well in a very good offense" to "improving QB who might just be better than anyone thought." Thanksgiving indeed. While it's hard to believe anyone could be playing better than Case right now, I still believe that Teddy, too, would be lighting it up if he were playing, as would Sam. 

So, who do we give our money to? With Teddy's knee a question mark, Bradford's knee a caution flag draped over it, and Keenum seemingly improving with each game, I think it's now a legitimate question. Obviously, It would be foolish to do anything money related now, but it's going to be an interesting off season. I'm betting Mike and Rick are merrily flummoxed. That is to say they're giddy at the results, but have absolutely no clue about what they're going to do, other than just watch it play out like the rest of us. 

It is ironic that we struggled to find a "franchise" QB all these years and now we cannot figure out which one we want to keep.  Strange world.
I just wish we had them all under contract and could trade them off to teams like the Eagles did to us.

@"HappyViking" said:

@"NorthernCalVike" said: I still want to see how Teddy would perform with this O-Line / Offensive scheme. I think he would be excellent. Going to be very interesting off season, wether we win the Super Bowl or not - BIG QB Decisions will be made.

I see either Teddy or Case being our starter next year, with the young guy we picked up, Sloter, as the back up IF he has been showing great promise.

How much money would that tie up in the QB position to sign them both?  Case is going to get a starting QB salary with the way he's playing, but Teddy may get that too.   I think the Vikes have to go with a proven QB, and I agree.  Teddy might be better, but maybe not.  If Case is playing well, and the team is winning, then who cares if Sam and Teddy leave?  We don't need two starting QBs.

I *think* we need to treat Case as the starter... with the caveat that he could be beaten out by Teddy... and sign both of them.  Whoever doesn't win the starting job will become trade bait (at some point in the future).  Sloter is our "long-term" #2.

@"Hidalgo" said: Case needs to win the next 7 games to get a long term deal imo

That would make him better than any QB in Viking history.  I guess he'd earn it then.  B)

Teddy won't get a chance to prove he's worth any contract this season.  Every game has meaning for home field playoff games, so Case has to get the nod. 

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" just keeps playing in my mind...

@"MaroonBells" said: I don't think Sam even plays a role in this story, except as perhaps a cautionary tale for the team's approach to Teddy Bridgewater.

As I've said before, in my mind, Thanksgiving saw Case Keenum's narrative turn a corner from "rental QB playing well in a very good offense" to "improving QB who might just be better than anyone thought." Thanksgiving indeed. While it's hard to believe anyone could be playing better than Case right now, I still believe that Teddy, too, would be lighting it up if he were playing, as would Sam. 

So, who do we give our money to? With Teddy's knee a question mark, Bradford's knee a caution flag draped over it, and Keenum seemingly improving with each game, I think it's now a legitimate question. Obviously, It would be foolish to do anything money related now, but it's going to be an interesting off season. I'm betting Mike and Rick are merrily flummoxed. That is to say they're giddy at the results, but have absolutely no clue about what they're going to do, other than just watch it play out like the rest of us. 

@"pumpf" said: I *think* we need to treat Case as the starter... with the caveat that he could be beaten out by Teddy... and sign both of them.  Whoever doesn't win the starting job will become trade bait (at some point in the future).  Sloter is our "long-term" #2.

Edit: And, yes, I'm aware that Teddy, with his knee, could also be the pumpkin. 

For kicks and giggles, Lets say we are able to keep BOTH Teddy and Case and Sloter next year (in this story line, we lose the NFC championship game, thus the QB decision is made even more difficult -but are able to keep all three). It would make training camp one heck of a story line. TB and CK battling for the starter position throughout camp and preseason (assuming that in this scenario a starter is not named at the beginning of camp). Could only imagine the story lines coming out every single day - And to top it off, we are the team chosen for Hard Knocks! And us being the Vikings (our history of QB Bizarro land), OUT OF NO WHERE Sloter wins the starter position going into 2018 season. Teddy is his back up, and we trade Case for a #2 pick in 2019. Sloter goes on to bring the first SB Trophy to Minnesota and becomes the next Tom Brady. Sloter's story goes on to the become a thing of legend, where his story is told to young ones around the fire.

I know - my mind works in strange ways. 

@"NorthernCalVike" said: For kicks and giggles, Lets say we are able to keep BOTH Teddy and Case and Sloter next year (in this story line, we lose the NFC championship game, thus the QB decision is made even more difficult -but are able to keep all three). It would make training camp one heck of a story line. TB and CK battling for the starter position throughout camp and preseason (assuming that in this scenario a starter is not named at the beginning of camp). Could only imagine the story lines coming out every single day - And to top it off, we are the team chosen for Hard Knocks! And us being the Vikings (our history of QB Bizarro land), OUT OF NO WHERE Sloter wins the starter position going into 2018 season. Teddy is his back up, and we trade Case for a #2 pick in 2019. Sloter goes on to bring the first SB Trophy to Minnesota and becomes the next Tom Brady. Sloter's story goes on to the become a thing of legend, where his story is told to young ones around the fire.

I know - my mind works in strange ways. 

I wouldn't be to surprised if Case is the only one that returns.  I'd love to see them lock up Case and Teddy but kind of doubt that happens.  I also believe Sam is going to probably hang up the cleats, just too much uncertainty with his knee.

@"MaroonBells" said: I don't think Sam even plays a role in this story, except as perhaps a cautionary tale for the team's approach to Teddy Bridgewater.

As I've said before, in my mind, Thanksgiving saw Case Keenum's narrative turn a corner from "rental QB playing well in a very good offense" to "improving QB who might just be better than anyone thought." Thanksgiving indeed. While it's hard to believe anyone could be playing better than Case right now, I still believe that Teddy, too, would be lighting it up if he were playing, as would Sam. 

So, who do we give our money to? With Teddy's knee a question mark, Bradford's knee a caution flag draped over it, and Keenum seemingly improving with each game, I think it's now a legitimate question. Obviously, It would be foolish to do anything money related now, but it's going to be an interesting off season. I'm betting Mike and Rick are merrily flummoxed. That is to say they're giddy at the results, but have absolutely no clue about what they're going to do, other than just watch it play out like the rest of us. 

@"Purplewhizz" said:

@"MaroonBells" said: I don't think Sam even plays a role in this story, except as perhaps a cautionary tale for the team's approach to Teddy Bridgewater.

As I've said before, in my mind, Thanksgiving saw Case Keenum's narrative turn a corner from "rental QB playing well in a very good offense" to "improving QB who might just be better than anyone thought." Thanksgiving indeed. While it's hard to believe anyone could be playing better than Case right now, I still believe that Teddy, too, would be lighting it up if he were playing, as would Sam. 

So, who do we give our money to? With Teddy's knee a question mark, Bradford's knee a caution flag draped over it, and Keenum seemingly improving with each game, I think it's now a legitimate question. Obviously, It would be foolish to do anything money related now, but it's going to be an interesting off season. I'm betting Mike and Rick are merrily flummoxed. That is to say they're giddy at the results, but have absolutely no clue about what they're going to do, other than just watch it play out like the rest of us. 

I question whether Teddy would be able to make this offensive line look as good as Keenum has.  Keenum's ability to move around and escape has been one of his biggest strengths.   Bradford did well in the first game because he can get rid of the ball quickly and accurately.  I actually think Teddy may struggle the most of the three, as his decision making may be slower due to rust and his escapability may not be what it was prior to injury.

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"pumpf" said: I *think* we need to treat Case as the starter... with the caveat that he could be beaten out by Teddy... and sign both of them.  Whoever doesn't win the starting job will become trade bait (at some point in the future).  Sloter is our "long-term" #2.

I wish that were possible. Who knows, maybe we can find a way to do it, but unless he turns back into a pumpkin--and that does not seem likely at this point--Keenum is now likely to command a starter's salary, as will Bridgewater. What a happy mess. I just hope to God we make the right decision. But I fear another '98, where we committed to our Cinderella, who quickly turned back into a pumpkin and traded our starter, who went on to win a Super Bowl. This team CANNOT make that mistake again. One thing that gives me hope is that I think we have smarter people in charge now. 

Edit: And, yes, I'm aware that Teddy, with his knee, could also be the pumpkin.