Teddy leaving?

Again, sounds like the Vikings are just going to let the NFL decide on this matter. The NFL will likely make this decision based on their interpretation of the rule, and not what the Vikings may or may not "assert." And that's likely why the Vikings have that stance. Keeps their hands clean. 

If nothing else, I think this sends another positive message to potential free agents. We could tag Keenum, but we're going to let him test the market. We could fight the tolling issue, but Teddy's earned the right to compete on the market. Total opposite of the way Cousins was treated in DC. 

KFAN was reporting that Teddy's contract won't be tolled, but I don't think it's "official" yet.  They were basing it off a Florio report.  Basically they're saying Teddy will be an unrestricted FA. 

https://247sports.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings/Bolt/Teddy-Bridgewater-contract-likely-wont-toll-into-2018-115574805

Teddy Bridgewater
is still waiting on word of whether or not he will be stopped from
being a free agent or if he is able to hit the open market this
offseason. The Minnesota Vikings have looked into his contract
potentially tolling into next season.

However, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk
says that it is not likely and that he should be able to become a free
agent as he looks for his next contract to secure his future.

As of 3 weeks ago it sounded like the Vikings believed he contract might toll. At this point it sounds like they believe the opposite. PFT references the McCarron case and I think that will play a big part in the NFL's decision making. If the team is on the fence since they don't want to ruffle feathers and look like the bad guys and the NFL just lost its appeal, it may end up falling off their docket. Both cases (Bridgewater/McCarron) are different, but the precedence to taking the players side definitely makes you hesitate. 

Either way, this just means the contract won't toll. Teddy will have options but it doesn't mean the Vikings couldn't opt to resign him just like Case. 

@"MaroonBells" said: Again, sounds like the Vikings are just going to let the NFL decide on this matter. The NFL will likely make this decision based on their interpretation of the rule, and not what the Vikings may or may not "assert." And that's likely why the Vikings have that stance. Keeps their hands clean. 

If nothing else, I think this sends another positive message to potential free agents. We could tag Keenum, but we're going to let him test the market. We could fight the tolling issue, but Teddy's earned the right to compete on the market. Total opposite of the way Cousins was treated in DC. 

I'm kind of surprised because I thought the Vikings would try to utilize tolling to keep Bridgewater. Now, fairly or not, their non-interest in tolling him, and letting Bridgewater test the market, will raise questions about just how the Vikings' staff feels about Bridgewater's knee and overall recovery.

@"Jor-El" said:

@"MaroonBells" said: Again, sounds like the Vikings are just going to let the NFL decide on this matter. The NFL will likely make this decision based on their interpretation of the rule, and not what the Vikings may or may not "assert." And that's likely why the Vikings have that stance. Keeps their hands clean. 

If nothing else, I think this sends another positive message to potential free agents. We could tag Keenum, but we're going to let him test the market. We could fight the tolling issue, but Teddy's earned the right to compete on the market. Total opposite of the way Cousins was treated in DC. 

I don't know that it is a positive message, because the bigger picture that NFL players see is that the Vikings are not giving big fat contract extensions to these players. That's what players want. Now, we have done that with Smith, Rhodes, Griffen, Joseph, so our rep is probably OK. Yeah, it would be negative impact if we tried to lock up Bridgewater via tolling, but at best this just keeps perception of the franchise as neutral.

I'm kind of surprised because I thought the Vikings would try to utilize tolling to keep Bridgewater. Now, fairly or not, their non-interest in tolling him, and letting Bridgewater test the market, will raise questions about just how the Vikings' staff feels about Bridgewater's knee and overall recovery.

I'm not sure how much of an impact this stuff has on outside free agents. If anything, the Vikings may be more concerned about how they look to their current players. How are you treating the guy you once thought was going to be our franchise QB after he suffered a serious injury? It may have a demoralizing effect - us (players) vs them (management).

If the Vikings had sought to toll TB's contract and also offered Cousins $30M a year, I doubt Cousins would hesitate because the Vikings tried to toll TB's contract. All he would care about is his contract and whether he thought he could win with this team. The same goes for other FAs. Show me the money.

Retaining Bridgewater in 'some capacity' isn't what I'd call a ringing endorsement as the answer at QB. But they may have to look at him as a Plan B or fall back scenario potentially depending on how things go with either Cousins or Bradford. 

@"StickyBun" said: Retaining Bridgewater in 'some capacity' isn't what I'd call a ringing endorsement as the answer at QB. But they may have to look at him as a Plan B or fall back scenario potentially depending on how things go with either Cousins or Bradford. 

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Retaining Bridgewater in 'some capacity' isn't what I'd call a ringing endorsement as the answer at QB. But they may have to look at him as a Plan B or fall back scenario potentially depending on how things go with either Cousins or Bradford. 

How can you give a QB who hasn't been on the field in two years a ringing endorsement? I don't think a single NFL team would be able to definitively say that Bridgewater was the answer if they'd been in the Vikings shoes. That doesn't mean they wouldn't want him back however.  

Whatever the Vikings' intentions, it appears that the QB situation will depend on Cousins' asking price vs his desire to "win now", Teddy's development/recovery as seen by the Vikings staff, the real condition of Bradford's knees, and exactly how much the locker room loved Keenum.

All that considered, Cousins is the biggest domino in the game.

@"Zanary" said: Whatever the Vikings' intentions, it appears that the QB situation will depend on Cousins' asking price vs his desire to "win now", Teddy's development/recovery as seen by the Vikings staff, the real condition of Bradford's knees, and exactly how much the locker room loved Keenum.

All that considered, Cousins is the biggest domino in the game.

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"Zanary" said: Whatever the Vikings' intentions, it appears that the QB situation will depend on Cousins' asking price vs his desire to "win now", Teddy's development/recovery as seen by the Vikings staff, the real condition of Bradford's knees, and exactly how much the locker room loved Keenum.

All that considered, Cousins is the biggest domino in the game.

am I the only one seeing the Vikings getting left with their 4th or 5th option when this all plays out?   They really want Cousins,  but only at X price.  Its close enough that his team keeps them on the hook.  Meanwhile our QBs are wooed away by the other teams that arent really in the mix for Cousins and we get ryan fitzpatrick backed up by mark sanchez ( who gets beat out for the #2 in camp by Sloter)

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"Zanary" said: Whatever the Vikings' intentions, it appears that the QB situation will depend on Cousins' asking price vs his desire to "win now", Teddy's development/recovery as seen by the Vikings staff, the real condition of Bradford's knees, and exactly how much the locker room loved Keenum.

All that considered, Cousins is the biggest domino in the game.

am I the only one seeing the Vikings getting left with their 4th or 5th option when this all plays out?   They really want Cousins,  but only at X price.  Its close enough that his team keeps them on the hook.  Meanwhile our QBs are wooed away by the other teams that arent really in the mix for Cousins and we get ryan fitzpatrick backed up by mark sanchez ( who gets beat out for the #2 in camp by Sloter)

One more sign it's either Cousins or, a longshot Bradford returns which I personally wouldn't mind.  

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"Zanary" said: Whatever the Vikings' intentions, it appears that the QB situation will depend on Cousins' asking price vs his desire to "win now", Teddy's development/recovery as seen by the Vikings staff, the real condition of Bradford's knees, and exactly how much the locker room loved Keenum.

All that considered, Cousins is the biggest domino in the game.

am I the only one seeing the Vikings getting left with their 4th or 5th option when this all plays out?   They really want Cousins,  but only at X price.  Its close enough that his team keeps them on the hook.  Meanwhile our QBs are wooed away by the other teams that arent really in the mix for Cousins and we get ryan fitzpatrick backed up by mark sanchez ( who gets beat out for the #2 in camp by Sloter)

Given the Vikings' cap space and desirable situation, it would be a pretty big upset if they didn't end up with one of the top QBs. 

Problem is, we don't know who that is. Are the Vikings as high on Cousins as the hype surrounding him? Do they still believe in Teddy's long-term potential given his knee injury? Are the complimentary statements about Bradford real? Or are they just giving him a fighting chance on the market, as teams often do. And might they still want Case Keenum, but at a much lower price than his franchise salary? 

I don't know the answer to any of these questions, but I feel pretty confident that the Vikings will get the QB they want. 

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"Zanary" said: Whatever the Vikings' intentions, it appears that the QB situation will depend on Cousins' asking price vs his desire to "win now", Teddy's development/recovery as seen by the Vikings staff, the real condition of Bradford's knees, and exactly how much the locker room loved Keenum.

All that considered, Cousins is the biggest domino in the game.

am I the only one seeing the Vikings getting left with their 4th or 5th option when this all plays out?   They really want Cousins,  but only at X price.  Its close enough that his team keeps them on the hook.  Meanwhile our QBs are wooed away by the other teams that arent really in the mix for Cousins and we get ryan fitzpatrick backed up by mark sanchez ( who gets beat out for the #2 in camp by Sloter)

@"greediron" said:

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"Zanary" said: Whatever the Vikings' intentions, it appears that the QB situation will depend on Cousins' asking price vs his desire to "win now", Teddy's development/recovery as seen by the Vikings staff, the real condition of Bradford's knees, and exactly how much the locker room loved Keenum.

All that considered, Cousins is the biggest domino in the game.

am I the only one seeing the Vikings getting left with their 4th or 5th option when this all plays out?   They really want Cousins,  but only at X price.  Its close enough that his team keeps them on the hook.  Meanwhile our QBs are wooed away by the other teams that arent really in the mix for Cousins and we get ryan fitzpatrick backed up by mark sanchez ( who gets beat out for the #2 in camp by Sloter)

Given the Vikings' cap space and desirable situation, it would be a pretty big upset if they didn't end up with one of the top QBs. 

Problem is, we don't know who that is. Are the Vikings as high on Cousins as the hype surrounding him? Do they still believe in Teddy's long-term potential given his knee injury? Are the complimentary statements about Bradford real? Or are they just giving him a fighting chance on the market, as teams often do. And might they still want Case Keenum, but at a much lower price than his franchise salary? 

I don't know the answer to any of these questions, but I feel pretty confident that the Vikings will get the QB they want. 

Same here.  The Wilfs and Rick see the potential on this team and will likely go after what they want.  I fear the opposite really, that we will overspend and hamstring the team in the future.  But as long as we get a ring, I am fine with whatever.

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"Zanary" said: Whatever the Vikings' intentions, it appears that the QB situation will depend on Cousins' asking price vs his desire to "win now", Teddy's development/recovery as seen by the Vikings staff, the real condition of Bradford's knees, and exactly how much the locker room loved Keenum.

All that considered, Cousins is the biggest domino in the game.

am I the only one seeing the Vikings getting left with their 4th or 5th option when this all plays out?   They really want Cousins,  but only at X price.  Its close enough that his team keeps them on the hook.  Meanwhile our QBs are wooed away by the other teams that arent really in the mix for Cousins and we get ryan fitzpatrick backed up by mark sanchez ( who gets beat out for the #2 in camp by Sloter)

@"comet52" said: One more sign it's either Cousins or, a longshot Bradford returns which I personally wouldn't mind.  

@"Jor-El" said:

@"greediron" said:

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"Zanary" said: Whatever the Vikings' intentions, it appears that the QB situation will depend on Cousins' asking price vs his desire to "win now", Teddy's development/recovery as seen by the Vikings staff, the real condition of Bradford's knees, and exactly how much the locker room loved Keenum.

All that considered, Cousins is the biggest domino in the game.

am I the only one seeing the Vikings getting left with their 4th or 5th option when this all plays out?   They really want Cousins,  but only at X price.  Its close enough that his team keeps them on the hook.  Meanwhile our QBs are wooed away by the other teams that arent really in the mix for Cousins and we get ryan fitzpatrick backed up by mark sanchez ( who gets beat out for the #2 in camp by Sloter)

Given the Vikings' cap space and desirable situation, it would be a pretty big upset if they didn't end up with one of the top QBs. 

Problem is, we don't know who that is. Are the Vikings as high on Cousins as the hype surrounding him? Do they still believe in Teddy's long-term potential given his knee injury? Are the complimentary statements about Bradford real? Or are they just giving him a fighting chance on the market, as teams often do. And might they still want Case Keenum, but at a much lower price than his franchise salary? 

I don't know the answer to any of these questions, but I feel pretty confident that the Vikings will get the QB they want. 

Same here.  The Wilfs and Rick see the potential on this team and will likely go after what they want.  I fear the opposite really, that we will overspend and hamstring the team in the future.  But as long as we get a ring, I am fine with whatever.

Many people seem so worried about multi-year budget plans for the team. The first, hardest, and only absolutely necessary step in building a championship dynasty: win your FIRST championship. Let's not nitpick the budget to ensure a long-term "division dynasty".