The Vikings are done for the year. Now what? They’ve got Case Keenum, Teddy Bridgewater and Sam Bradford, and they’ve got to figure out which one will be their starting quarterback.
Keenum had a great season. I think he’ll be starting somewhere in 2018 (maybe as a bridge quarterback in front of a rookie). Bradford has been productive, but he’s also had problems staying healthy; he’ll probably also interest teams as a bridge option.
But I think the Vikings like Bridgewater. Now that he’s a year and a half removed from a serious knee injury, I think he’s probably the frontrunner to be their opening day starter. Bridgewater said today that his hope and expectation is that he’ll be starting for Minnesota.
I expect the Vikings will try to bring two of these quarterbacks back, giving themselves depth at the position, and I think Bridgewater will probably be their guy. But it’s a situation that will need to play out. Keenum played well enough that I think it’s almost as likely that he’ll be their No. 1.
Bridgewater, Keenum and Bradford are all headed for free agency, and they might all be among the league’s 35 best quarterbacks right now. No way can they pay all three of them, and they might not be able to pay even two of them.
Three elite quarterbacks are headed for free agency (Drew Brees, Kirk Cousins and Jimmy Garoppolo) but I’m not sure if any of them are going anywhere. San Francisco will tag Garoppolo if necessary. Cousins is probably the most likely to move; he’s been tagged a couple of times already, and Washington might be wondering if they would be better letting him go and plugging a cheaper player in that role. Cousins has put up big numbers, but part of the credit there goes to Jay Gruden’s system.
If I were walking into a dynasty draft today, Carson Wentz and Aaron Rodgers would be the first two quarterbacks I would be looking at. That’s assuming standard fantasy scoring, with fantasy teams then having the right to hold onto said players indefinitely – making younger players more valuable.
Players who are headed for free agency are tagged. Others no doubt will be released or traded in the following months.
DYNASTY RANKINGS (quarterbacks) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Rk | Team | Player | Age |
1. | PHI | Carson Wentz | 25 |
2. | GB | Aaron Rodgers | 34 |
3. | SEA | Russell Wilson | 29 |
4. | DET | Matthew Stafford | 29 |
5. | IND | Andrew Luck | 28 |
6. | HOU | Deshaun Watson | 22 |
7. | LAR | Jared Goff | 23 |
8. | SF | • Jimmy Garoppolo | 26 |
9. | TB | Jameis Winston | 24 |
10. | OAK | Derek Carr | 26 |
11. | WAS | • Kirk Cousins | 29 |
12. | CAR | Cam Newton | 28 |
13. | ATL | Matt Ryan | 32 |
14. | DAL | Dak Prescott | 24 |
15. | TEN | Marcus Mariota | 24 |
16. | NE | Tom Brady | 40 |
17. | NO | • Drew Brees | 39 |
18. | KC | Patrick Mahomes | 22 |
19. | CIN | Andy Dalton | 30 |
20. | PIT | Ben Roethlisberger | 35 |
21. | LAC | Philip Rivers | 36 |
22. | BUF | Tyrod Taylor | 28 |
23. | CHI | Mitchell Trubisky | 23 |
24. | KC | Alex Smith | 33 |
25. | MIN | • Teddy Bridgewater | 25 |
26. | MIN | • Case Keenum | 29 |
27. | NYG | Eli Manning | 37 |
28. | JAC | Blake Bortles | 25 |
29. | BAL | Joe Flacco | 33 |
30. | MIA | Ryan Tannehill | 29 |
31. | CIN | AJ McCarron | 27 |
32. | MIN | • Sam Bradford | 30 |
33. | NYJ | • Josh McCown | 38 |
34. | PHI | Nick Foles | 29 |
35. | CLE | DeShone Kizer | 22 |
36. | BUF | Nathan Peterman | 23 |
37. | IND | Jacoby Brissett | 25 |
38. | DEN | Trevor Siemian | 26 |
39. | GB | Brett Hundley | 24 |
40. | DAL | Cooper Rush | 24 |
41. | MIA | • Jay Cutler | 34 |
42. | SF | C.J. Beathard | 24 |
43. | UFA | • Colin Kaepernick | 30 |
44. | ARI | • Blaine Gabbert | 28 |
45. | HOU | Tom Savage | 27 |
46. | TB | • Ryan Fitzpatrick | 35 |
47. | PIT | Landry Jones | 28 |
48. | DEN | Paxton Lynch | 23 |
49. | NE | Brian Hoyer | 32 |
50. | NYJ | Christian Hackenberg | 23 |
—Ian Allan