Teddy Bridgewater will enter next season as the unquestioned starting quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings. Who the backup quarterback will be is anyone’s guess.
Christian Ponder’s rookie contract has expired and there’s a good chance he’ll land with a new team after free agency begins in March. Matt Cassel, last year’s starting quarterback before suffering a season-ending foot injury in the third game of the season, has one year remaining on his contract; although it’s not a guarantee the Vikings will bring him back.
General Manager Rick Spielman recently told FOX Sports North that a final decision on Cassel hasn’t been made.
“We went through our process, we evaluated all of our players,” Spielman said when asked about Cassel’s future. “We looked at everything from what they bring to our football team, in the locker room, off the field, what they bring to us on the field. But we also have to look at where they’re at from a standpoint of their contract, where we’re at from a cap standpoint. We have a lot of unknowns right now from that standpoint.
“We assess all our guys. Matt’s done a great job. Came in and has won some games when he had to play. He’s a great locker-room guy. Matt has a lot of value to us.”
Cassel, who turns 33 in May, is due to make $4.15 million in 2015. He threw for 3 touchdowns and 4 interceptions in fewer than three games last season.
The Vikings shouldn’t have a problem with Cassel’s salary, Pro Football Talk says, because Bridgewater is still on his relatively inexpensive rookie contract. Additionally, the group of available veteran free-agent quarterbacks isn’t very appealing. Some of the names include: Josh McCown, Brian Hoyer, Mark Sanchez, Michael Vick, Colt McCoy and Jake Locker, among others.
