Taking some pressure off the Vikings’ requirements in the upcoming draft, yesterday they re-signed Matt Cassel to a two-year, $10 million deal. Cassel had voided the optional second year of his original contract to test the free agency waters. Clearly the right decision for him, as he’ll be making a fair bit more than the $3.7 called for in that contract. ESPN‘s Ben Goessling has more:
Now, the Vikings at least have their much-discussed bridge to the future, whatever that is. If they don’t get a quarterback in the first round of the draft, they can at least take one in a later round and let him compete for the job with Cassel, knowing they can probably survive if he’s not ready to play right away. And if they choose to look toward a 2015 quarterback class that could include Oregon’s Marcus Mariota and UCLA’s Brett Hundley, they could have Cassel’s hand at the helm for 2014.
Let’s be clear about what Cassel is, and is not. He is the most reliable quarterback on the Vikings’ roster at the moment, after turning in more solid performances than bad ones in a goofy year at quarterback in Minnesota. He is not the kind of QB the Vikings will build around, and his two-year deal reflects that. He’s had two good full seasons as a starting quarterback — in 2008 for the Patriots and 2010 for the Chiefs — and has been mediocre in the full-time role otherwise. But the Vikings were never asking Cassel to be a long-term solution at the position. They were simply hoping he could drive them from here to their next quarterback without banging the car up too badly. He should be able to do that, and now, the Vikings don’t have to head into the rest of the spring staring at a gaping hole at the NFL’s most important position.
MINNEAPOLIS – DECEMBER 15: Matt Cassel #16 of the Minnesota Vikings warms up prior to an NFL game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Mall of America Field, on December 15, 2013 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Dahlin/Getty Images)
