With Teddy Bridgewater likely sidelined for some time because of a significant knee injury the Minnesota Vikings have a decision to make at quarterback.
Shaun Hill and undrafted-rookie Joel Stave are the only healthy quarterbacks on the Vikings roster as they set to host the Rams in their preseason finale Thursday night.
How do the Vikings move forward?
Coach Mike Zimmer told reporters that he has confidence in Hill and the rest of the team to find ways to win games, recent history might say otherwise.
Don’t forget, it wasn’t that long ago the Vikings expressed interest in Nick Foles, who chose instead to sign with Kansas City.
So just in case, here are some other names Minnesota may consider:
1. Collin Kaepernick – San Francisco
Kaepernick has been in the news a lot recently because of a controversy about the national anthem. But ESPN’s John Clayton writes that he thinks Kaepernick might be Minnesota’s best option.
“San Francisco coach Chip Kelly hasn’t named a starter, but Blaine Gabbert appears to have the job, and I’m sure 49ers ownership wouldn’t mind unloading Kaepernick. Still, Kaepernick has talent and could be worked into a Norv Turner offense that features the run.”
The hangup: Other than the National of Anthem controversy, Kaepernick has a $12.9 million salary that’s guaranteed – and the Vikings don’t have enough cap room, so the 49ers would need to kick in money to help.
2. Mark Sanchez – Denver
Sanchez won’t be the starting quarterback in Denver, but he could be the odd man out. Pro Football Talk notes the Broncos are looking to trade the veteran.
The former USC Trojan was a first-round pick (No. 5 overall) of the New York Jets in 2009.
While Sanchez has taken his share of bashing for the “butt fumble” he did lead the Jets to the playoffs in 2009 as a rookie.
3. Geno Smith – New York Jets
We can’t mention the Jets without mentioning their young quarterback Geno Smith. Smith is in the final year of his contract and could be had with a low draft choice.
Smith has a decent arm, but he’s 11-18 as a starter and has a career completion percentage of just 57.9 percent.
4. Christian Ponder – San Francisco
Do you think Vikings fans could handle a second run with Ponder? Ehh, probably not. But he’d be a slightly better option than some of the others, because he knows the system and has worked with the team.
Ex-Norv Turner QBs who the Vikings could try & trade for: Brian Hoyer, Brandon Weeden, Matt Cassel and Christian Ponder.
— #AskFFT (@daverichard) August 30, 2016
Does that mean it’s a good idea?
The rest
There are others on the free agent market. According to the Star Tribune, T.J. Yates, Zach Mettenberger and Austin Davis all have started NFL games and would be available options.
