On the cusp of the “legal tampering period,” Ian Rapaport reports that the Minnesota Vikings have re-signed veteran quarterback Matt Cassel.
Matt Cassel is re-signing with the #Vikings, per source.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 8, 2014
Earlier today, the Vikings also announced that they resigned cornerback and punt returner Marcus Sherels.
Cassel may have been an extremely up-and-down quarterback this last year, but this re-signing is probably a good thing. It may mean that the Vikings wouldn’t go after potentially more tantalizing targets like Michael Vick or Josh McCown, but with those two at the top of the free agency market for quarterbacks, it wasn’t a good group to begin with.
Between Cassel and Ponder, Cassel showed significantly higher highs, but also on occasion lower lows, with his game-by-game performance:
While Ponder was more consistent, he was consistently bad, while Cassel’s volatility produced above-average games. Even from a film-perspective, the difference between Cassel against Philadelphia, one of the single-most compelling performances for any quarterback this year, and his game against Seattle or Carolina, both depressing.
Cassel did a better job using the tools available to him on a more frequent basis and is still honestly one of the better backup quarterbacks in a league sorely lacking in quarterback options.
The roster needs to have a number of quarterbacks. They won’t all be young or have massive upside. Cassel can fill the role of a backup quarterback just fine, and could potentially help groom the next young Vikings quarterback, which is all he will be asked to do.
As for Sherels, he’s a player whose talent has gone from questionable to hopeful. His short period as a slot cornerback this year was promising (although he did have major miscues) and it looks like he could continue to be solid depth as a nickel corner while remaining one of the better punt returners in the league.
Update: Matt Cassel’s deal was two years for $10 million, which improves his option base salary of $3.75 million to an average salary of $5 million. Presumably, there is also more guaranteed money.
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Ok, looks as if SpielMullen has Plan B and the other Plan B solidly in place
Nice CYA Ricky Poo. Now go get a FA difference maker .......
Jeff
>>>>>>>Meta
>>>>>>>>>>>>>Universal
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Peace
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>?????????????? ..... Dugan!
Good backstop if they get a young 'un that needs time to develop. Squashed the sign Vick or trade for Rivers etc. rumors.
Of the 41 in spending....does anyone know if that is on top of what's slotted for their draft picks, or it will need to come out of that number?
For people slotted at 8th in the order, the total draft pick money should be about 6.2 million with the new cap number, unless the Vikings trade out of their third or fourth-round picks for more picks in later rounds, which would push it up to 6.5M or so.
Got it Arif.....so part of the 41M under the cap will be spent on the draft picks? Am I assuming correctly on that?
You are, that is correct.
I think this was the right move. If Cassel starts the year as the number 1 and gets the reps it's likely he will be more consistent. It has to be hard for a qb when they get jerked around like he was last year.
Statistically there wasn't a significant difference between Cassel and Ponder except for the all-important Ws. In my opinion that suggests better decision making skills that hopefully can be shared with a rookie. Vick might have been a dynamic option but he has always opted to run out of trouble rather than throw. If he does throw under pressure its often to the wrong team.
Simply put, if we were looking for a rental to get us to the playoffs this year, Vick was probably a fair choice. If we are looking for a vet to teach our QBOTF I think Cassel makes more sense.
The Vikings personnel issues begin with a legitimate offensive threat. Admittedly, Adrian Peterson is an above average football player, (he's stellar at procreation). Peterson severely lacks the capacity to disable those pesky officials who cost the Vikings 20-25 TD's last season.
A "team" concept is what the Vikings truly need. You can't spell team without an "a". You also can't spell "Dugan" with out an "a". It's the missing piece to the puzzle. The Vikings need to fill the "a" hole. I suggest they sign the biggest "a" hole filler on the planet. Jeff Meta Universal Peace Dugan - The A Hole!
they can't sign him until he returns. he had to go over and annex the Crimea region of Ukraine to the USA. putin hates A hole fillers
Yes we dodged the Vick train before it derailed.
Dodged or dogged? ahhhahaha.
Really glad to see our SE hero Marcus staying in the fold. He's a darn good kid, I think the new staff will like him.
Nice chart Arif, but I gotta admit the "NFL average" line is the only one that makes any sense. Shouldn't there be numbers or words along the bottom and the left side?
Adding numbers to the chart would have been confusing, as one is a passer rating that spans from 40-110 or so and the other is AYA, spanning from 2-10. I just scaled passer rating to AYA so that it looks like it's on the same scale. If it was a rigorous graph used to prove more than a glancing point, units would have been more useful.
Though now that I think about it, numbers on the left and right may have solved that problem.
Each point on the x-axis, incidentally, is a game they played significant snaps in. Cassel had 7, Ponder 8.
OK, that makes sense. More of a visual than an actual source of hard data. Thanks.
Cassel and Ponder were similarly poor in so many situations. I do like that Christian was only sacked half as many times as Matt.....but other than that....meh.
Zimmer is great.....how refreshing it is to hear our HC say that his final roster will determine what style football is played......his dad taught him that.....same with whatever QB we end up with, average, above average or great...Zimmer and Turner will get the most out of every player by coaching to the player's strengths.....how long I have waited to have a HC like that in the land of Purple!
Yes, Ole, Dugan would become a pro bowler under the Zimmer regime.....