If the pressure of trying to become the first Super Bowl hosts to raise the Vince Lombardi Trophy wasn't enough, the Minnesota Vikings will face another crucial moment little more than a month after Super Bowl LII.
The Vikings are at risk of losing three of the four quarterbacks they currently have under contract when free agency opens March 14. Only Kyle Sloter is signed beyond this season, and in a quarterback-hungry NFL, the Vikings represent a feeding ground for many starving teams.
Rewarding the proper signal-caller with a long-term contract could help set up the Vikings as an annual contender in the NFC. They have over $57 million in cap space for next season and already have offensive centerpieces Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs, and Dalvin Cook locked into bargain contracts through at least 2019.
Making the wrong decision, however, could lead to years of struggle, second-guessing, and ridicule if the Vikings' chosen franchise quarterback can't measure up to his departed peers.
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The 2017 Vikings were led to the playoffs by Case Keenum after signing him to a one-year, $2-million contract in the offseason to serve as Sam Bradford's backup. Discarded by both the Houston Texans and Los Angeles Rams, the undrafted Keenum proved this season that he's a fully capable starter, and is sure to receive another look in that role.
Bradford, meanwhile, is in the final year of a two-year, $36-million contract he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles before they traded him to Minnesota. He was injured during his miraculous Week 1 performance against the New Orleans Saints and aggravated the issue when he returned in Week 5, ultimately ending up on injured reserve.
The former No. 1 pick is coming off a nearly full 2016 season with a 71.6 percent completion rate, and would represent a major upgrade for any of the teams that suffered from horrendous quarterback play this season. He has returned to practice, but says it was more about gaining confidence for next season, and there's little chance he sees playoff action.
"I think it's been really encouraging for me, mentally, to know that I can go back out there and do it. I'm just happy to be on the field," Bradford said, according to ESPN's Courtney Cronin.
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Both Bradford and Keenum entered 2017 with plenty of question marks attached in terms of both injuries and poor play - they held career passer ratings of 81.0 and 78.4, respectively, prior to arriving in Minnesota. When the 2018 campaign starts, they'll both be 30 years old. With just one season remaining on each of their contracts, they were viewed as placeholders for Teddy Bridgewater.
Drafted 32nd overall by the Vikings in 2014, Bridgewater's career got off to a strong start with a playoff appearance in 2015. However, his development was stalled by a horrible knee injury he suffered immediately before the start of the 2016 season.
That kept him out until a brief Week 15 appearance this year, in which his lone drive near the end of the Vikings' blowout win over the Cincinnati Bengals concluded with an interception.
The Vikings chose to not exercise Bridgewater's fifth-year option for the 2018 season in May. Picking up the deal would have secured him for a bargain salary of $12 million next season, but the option would have been guaranteed in the event of an extended injury absence for Bridgewater or a new injury, making it risky.
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With Bridgewater back to health and several weeks of full practices under his belt, though, it'll soon be time for the Vikings to sign the 25-year-old to an extension that recognizes him as their franchise quarterback - albeit at a far loftier annual rate than they could have paid him in 2018.
Bradford and Keenum should be allowed to leave as free agents regardless of what accolades the latter may earn for himself or the team throughout January and February. Opting to retain their own first-round quarterback is the best route for the Vikings to take in order to avoid future humiliation.
The team would be much better off risking a surprise downturn from Bridgewater - who posted a passer rating of 87.0 over his first two seasons in the league - than locking into the extensive samples of negative play by Bradford and Keenum, which the whole league witnessed prior to their days in Minnesota.
