Among the Vikings’ apparent quarterback options — Case Keenum, Teddy Bridgewater, Sam Bradford and long-shot Kirk Cousins — Keenum would provide the least amount of risk.
It has to be hard for the Vikings to have full trust in any of the group. But if the team agrees that Keenum provides its best chance for success, he could be signed to a free-agent deal soon, even before Tuesday’s 3 p.m. NFL deadline to designate either a franchise or transition tag on him.
By the way, the rumor around the league that the Vikings have decided not to tag Keenum should be considered for what it is. A rumor.
It’s difficult to speculate what sort of contract — length, money — the Vikings would be willing to give Keenum, who turned 30 two weeks ago, or what other teams would be willing to offer him.
The Vikings don’t know whether last season’s play — an 11-3 regular-season record as starter — was serendipity or not. But they have to choose somebody, and Keenum seems the most prudent choice.
It’s hard to believe the Vikings would trust Bridgewater or Bradford, because of knee injuries, to be their starter.
Cousins is considered the best free agent available. But he is not among the NFL’s elite QBs. Also, he is expected to sign with whatever team gives him the most money, and the Vikings can’t offer the most money. The Jets would win a bidding competition for Cousins.
Remember, whenever a player says it’s not about the money, it’s about the money.
Cousins, who is from Holland, Mich., could fetch a deal worth $30 million a year, much of it up front and guaranteed. He reportedly is building a home on Lake Michigan in his home state.
Regarding Cousins and the Vikings and the Jets, as pointed out by “The Sports Tax Man,” CPA Robert Raiola, although the tax rate in Minnesota is 9.85 percent, Michigan and Minnesota have a reciprocal agreement. That means if Cousins plays for the Vikings, he would pay the Michigan tax rate of 4.25 percent instead of the 9.85 percent.
The Jets play in East Rutherford, N.J. The tax rate in New Jersey is 8.97 percent. New Jersey does not have tax reciprocity with Michigan.
The Vikings need to reserve cash for next year to re-sign core players Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks and Danielle Hunter. The Vikings are built on defense. There’s also Stefon Diggs on offense to pay.
The only free-agent quarterback worth the Vikings busting the payroll for would be Drew Brees, a future first-ballot hall of famer who is likely to remain in New Orleans.
The Vikings are picking too late in April’s draft (No. 30) and don’t have enough to trade up to get a quarterback for the future.
It won’t be surprising if the Vikings offer Bridgewater a backup QB contract. Should he decline, the team would have to seek a veteran backup.
Interestingly, the Super Bowl champion Eagles last week sounded like they would be willing to trade QB Nick Foles for the right price. But after the Vikings got pinched in the Bradford trade with Philadelphia two years ago, another deal with the Eagles would seem unlikely.
A trade for Foles probably would require a second-round draft pick and another pick. Arizona could be a destination for Foles.
It appears the Vikings won’t be able to afford to re-sign free agent guard Joe Berger, who could end up with the Giants. It’s also expected the Vikings will try to renegotiate down running back Latavius Murray’s $5.8 million salary for next season.
It’s assumed wide receiver Michael Floyd won’t be re-signed by the Vikings.
Wild owner Craig Leipold lights up when encountered by people who ask him what’s wrong with his team.
“I say, ‘What’s wrong with the team?’ — it’s the second-best we’ve ever played!” he answers in wonderment.
Leipold is right. The Wild, more than three-quarters into the season, have the second-most points in their 17-year history. The only season when they were more productive at this juncture was last season.
“We still have a lot of work to do to get into the playoffs,” Leipold said. “This is exactly where we’ve wanted to be — it’s all about peaking at the right time. It’s going to prepare us for the playoffs, and that’s what everybody looks at.”
Among the NHL’s 31 teams, the Wild lead in tickets sold over arena capacity (106 percent).
“It doesn’t get much better,” Leipold said. “I think our fans see we’re committed, that we’ve got a good, exciting team.”
The Wild rank No. 7 in the NHL in attendance, averaging 18,997. In crosstown Minneapolis, the Timberwolves rank No. 22 in the 30-team NBA, averaging 16,811, 88.6 percent of arena capacity.
The Timberwolves have had 11 sellouts this season.
The Wild carry 25-to-1 odds to win the Stanley Cup, according to Bovada-Las Vegas. The Timberwolves, following the indefinite loss of Jimmy Butler because of knee surgery, have gone from 33-to-1 to 75-to-1 to win the NBA championship.
Glen Taylor has had more than his share of misfortune since buying the Timberwolves 23 years ago. Finally this season, after not making the playoffs since 2004, it appeared the long-patient owner had a team headed to the postseason.
Then Butler last week underwent surgery for a torn meniscus. His return is uncertain.
“I just said, ‘Why me again?’ ” Taylor said when Butler went down. “I’ve talked to Jimmy since the injury, and he’s confident about the team that they have the tools” to get into the playoffs.
Going into his final game, in college basketball’s six major conferences, the Gophers’ Jordan Murphy was one of only three players to average at least 17 points and 11 rebounds. The others were Duke’s Marvin Bagley and Arizona’s DeAndre Ayton.
Ayton, a 7-foot freshman, is expected to be the NBA’s No. 1 pick in June’s draft, the 6-11 freshman Bagley among the top five.
Murphy, a 6-6 junior, finished averaging 16.8 points and 11.3 rebounds. But he’ll have to become a three-point threat in order to get a chance in the NBA.
The Gophers men’s basketball team finished 2-14 after Reggie Lynch was ruled ineligible.
The Penn State men’s hockey team that defeated the Gophers three straight times in eight days has six players from Canada, two from Russia and one from Finland.
Former Mr. Basketball Minnesota Royce White, 26, hoping to return to the NBA, leads the London Lightning in Canada in scoring (24.5 points per game) and rebounds (7.9).
As soon as it was clear that the New York Rangers decided to rebuild, the Stanley Cup-contending Tampa Bay Lightning moved last week to acquire Ryan McDonagh, the Cretin-Derham Hall grad who was the Rangers’ captain.
“We got a real solid player and a real solid human being — by all accounts, every direction, the character of this guy is something special,” Tom Kurvers said. “Captain of the New York Rangers, that’s a big deal.”
Kurvers, 55, the 1984 Hobey Baker winner from Minnesota-Duluth and Bloomington Jefferson, is senior advisor for Tampa Bay.
“Ryan fits in really well, strengthens our blue line — we have plenty of offense,” Kurvers said. “He was part of (the Rangers) decision to go young and renew their team. And it’s not like he’s an old player (28). Once that was clear, we were very interested, like most teams.
“It makes us stronger, but guarantees nothing. It’s a tough road once the playoffs start.”
J.T. Brown, the former UMD star and son of former Vikings running back Ted Brown, was waived by Tampa Bay and picked up by Anaheim. In 24 games for Tampa Bay, Brown had a goal and three assists. He has a goal and two assists in 18 games for the Ducks.
“Anaheim smartly picked him up — he’s good player,” Kurvers said.
Apple Valley’s Tyus and Tre Jones — one of a handful of brothers to be named McDonald’s All-American high school basketball players– will appear at 5:30 p.m. Monday for a promo at the Apple Valley McDonald’s.
The Gophers baseball team that plays host to UCLA at 6 p.m. Sunday in the Dairy Queen Classic at U.S. Bank Stadium has a handful of pro prospects, but foremost might be junior shortstop Terrin Vavra, son of Detroit Tigers quality control coach Joe Vavra, the ex-Twins bench coach from Menomonie, Wis.
Vavra, expected to be chosen in June’s major league draft, had five multi-hit games in the Gophers’ first eight games.
“He had a back problem the first two years from an old injury that finally healed, and he’s been able to practice every day and been healthy since last summer. And that’s been reflected in his game,” Minnesota coach John Anderson said. “He’s playing at a high level.”
Vavra was the Big Ten player of the week last week.
Gophers men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino speaks at a Dunkers breakfast Tuesday at the Minneapolis Club.
Happy birthday: Former Gopher-Minnesota Fighting Saint Pat Westrum turned 70 on Saturday.
Nice story: Jade Tucker, cut as a senior from her White Bear Lake varsity basketball team, persevered to become a starter for her Wisconsin-Superior basketball team that advanced to Division III NCAA tournaments the past three seasons.
Not since 1999, when Augsburg College featured future NBA player Devean George, had the Auggies made the NCAA Division III tournament. But they achieved it this season by beating St. Thomas (three times), No. 3-nationally ranked St. John’s on the road and Bethel at Bethel to become the MIAC playoff champion.
The Auggies sprang into the 64-team tournament behind 6-foot-8 former Buffalo star Collin Olmscheid, the MIAC’s player of the year after hitting 45 three-point field goals.
Coach Aaron Griess, by the way, left a head job at Division II Chaminade University in Honolulu to coach Augsburg 13 years ago. In the 2003 Maui Invitational, it was Griess who coached Chaminade to a major upset of Villanova.
Woodbury’s Jake Guentzel, who last season scored 16 goals in 40 games for Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh, has 20 goals in 65 games this season.
Former St. Paul Saints hockey player Freddie Brown, who had more than 500 career points and probably would have made it to the NHL had there not been just six teams when he played, died the other day at age 90 in assisted living in West St. Paul. Brown coached in West St. Paul and at St. Thomas Academy.
The Twins’ $31.86 average price for spring training games is the 10th-cheapest in baseball, according to TickPick. The Chicago Cubs’ $65.80 is the most expensive.
Lindsey Vonn, born in St. Paul, was the eighth-most talked about athlete during the Olympics on Facebook, as reported by Cynopsis Sports. Shaun White was No. 1.
Matt Bowen is out as men’s basketball coach at Minnesota-Duluth.
Cretin grad Pat Sweeney was recently inducted into the North Dakota AP Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame.
Duluth native David Friedman is an international scout for the Cincinnati Reds while a bench coach for Ireland’s national team in the Confederation of European Baseball championships.
Former Princeton star Paul Sather this season has coached Northern State (Aberdeen, S.D.) men’s basketball to a 20-2 NSIC record and No. 9 national ranking.
Former Gophers wrestling coach J Robinson is partnering with St. Thomas Academy to host the inaugural J Robinson Wrestling Classic for charity on Sunday.
Don’t print that
When Zygi Wilf bought the Vikings 13 years ago, he had two objectives, he said recently: “The first thing was to win the Lombardi (NFL Super Bowl championship trophy); the second thing was to make sure we have a home here in Minnesota,” he said.
Of his quest for a Super Bowl title, Wilf said, “I thought the Lombardi would be easier. We have the stadium — now we have a goal to get the Lombardi.”
It’s no surprise that the NFL will rule Vikings QB Teddy Bridgewater is a free agent rather than toll his 2018 contract for $1.35 million. The league, and the Vikings, couldn’t afford the bad publicity that would have come otherwise.
Adam Weber, the former Gophers record-setting QB who was offensive analyst for UCLA coach Jim Mora last season but hasn’t been retained by new UCLA coach Chip Kelly, remains in Los Angeles while considering his next coaching job. The Mounds View grad met with Sean McVay, but the Los Angeles Rams’ coach is looking for more experienced candidates.
“For the time being, I’m staying prepared and ready,” Weber, 30, said.
The Twins, who announced last week they they’ll televise each of their 162 games on Fox Sports North this season, in 1979 televised only four home games and 46 road games. The rights holder was KMSP.
Ex-Twin Jim Kaat, tweeting on baseball’s plan to speed up games: “As a former player, it’s embarrassing to read the attention given to mound visits. No rule should be necessary. Sixteen-year-old pitchers have more experience as pitchers than most people that visit the mound. Ludicrous.”
Purdue’s men’s basketball victory over the Gophers last Sunday was worth a bonus of nearly $28,500 to Boilermakers coach Matt Painter for finishing tied for second in the Big Ten, USA Today points out.
Gophers senior Carlie Wagner will be chosen by the Lynx with the last pick in the second round of the WNBA draft in April, a panel of league coaches and general managers projects.
Among game promotions the St. Paul Saints are considering this season, for the 40th anniversary of the movie “Animal House,” is a ballpark-wide food fight.
Despite having the Gophers on the schedule Oct. 20 at home, Nebraska, under new coach Scott Frost, has the hardest football schedule nationally in 2018, according to bleacherreport.com.
Overheard
Gophers baseball coach John Anderson, on winning the 1,250th game of his career last week against North Dakota State: “But who’s counting.”
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