If Mike Zimmer Wants Teddy Bridgewater as His Starter…. then SO DO I

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When it comes to news regarding the Vikings’ 2018 starting QB, this week has been more wild than our state’s professional hockey team.

Who Minnesota has under center, to begin next season, could end up defining Rick Spielman’s career. No pressure, my man. Naturally, the trickle-down effect of what the Purple’s GM decides, will largely impact our head football coach, Mike Zimmer.

On Tuesday, Zimmer was with all of his media friends at the Underwear Olympics in Indianapolis (AKA – NFL Combine), where he had some interesting comments regarding his teams’ most important position:

The 61 year-old also discussed how the Vikings have won “40 games in the past four years” and have done so by being “pretty good on defense for the most part.”

The Vikings are a complete 180 from the team they were, less than a handful of years ago. When the long-time Bengals’ defensive coordinator was appointed as Minnesota’s HC (January, 2014), the Vikings were coming off of a 2013 season, where they finished last in the NFC North. In addition, Skol Nation had just painfully battled through 16 games of cheering for a team with the leagues’ worst defense.

That year’s Week 16 final-score makes sense:

In that game, Andy Dalton ripped us for 363 passing yards (4 TDs, 0 INTs) & Mike Zimmer’s Bengals defense held us to 7 points per half. Last year, we beat the Bengals 34-7 and limited the Red Rocket to 113 passing yards (0 TDs, 2 INTs).

“Started from the bottom, now we’re here.”

How much of the transformation, over the past four seasons should be attributed to Zimmer, is up for debate.

I view it as a combination of the defensively minded guru and the intelligent front office decisions. Regardless of Rick Spielman, George Paton, and others assisting; many members of Skol Nation (including myself) have adopted the mindset “In Zim We Trust.“

via GIPHY

If that’s the adage we’ve gone with, then let’s stick to it:

So, what did our fearless leader mean by Thursday’s comments? Well, I think it’s clear the 2017 runner-up for NFL Coach of the Year isn’t drinking the “Let’s Sign Kirk Cousins at ~$30M” juice.

When digesting what his statements mean for Keenum, Bridgewater, and Bradford’s futures, those implications aren’t as clear-cut as the ones surrounding Cousins. Judging on what I’ve seen from Mike Zimmer, if it were his decision, he would set all clocks around Vikings’ Team facilities to Teddy-Time.

If you look at all the factors; from our head coach’s lack of commitment to Case in 2017 and Teddy’s discounted price in comparison, all the way to Sam Bradford’s ‘degenerative’ knees and, everything in-between, there are signs everywhere that Teddy-Time is upon us.

To ice the cake on my opinion:

I hope it is too, coach Zimmer. Because, I want what you want; and I believe you want Teddy.

#InZimWeTrust

Since January, when I initially declared Teddy as “the guy”, we now know a hell of lot more information about how much money these QBs, Captain Kirk in particular, will command on the free market.

It’s pretty well-known now, that signing Cousins to the HUGE long-term deal he is rumored to be offered, hinders the chances of doing the same with Stefon Diggs, Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, Danielle Hunter, and/or Tre Waynes. That’s scary. 

To try and grasp the $$$ difference we are talking, between Cousins and Bridgewater, let’s take a different approach:

I’ll assume the discrepancy between Kirk and Teddy’s salaries in 2018 is $18 million (Approx. $28 million for Cousins – Approx. $10M for Teddy, if brought on as your starter). What kind of value does that get you in today’s NFL?

Let’s use Harrison Smith and Linval Joseph’s CURRENT contracts ($18.05 million), even though they aren’t coming due. I just want to illustrate what kind of value approximately $18 million can have in today’s league (use $14M if you want to be conservative).

18 MILLION NFL SALARY CAP DOLLARS = 2 TOP DEFENSIVE PLAYERS (Harrison Smith + Linval Joseph Caliber)

Is Kirk Cousins over Teddy worth those two players, if Bridgewater comes back as the player he was before the injury? (And, it sure seems like his teammates and coaches believe he can.)

Since Mike Zimmer didn’t just come flat-out and say it, I will.

via GIPHY

NO. KIRK COUSINS IN NOT WORTH THAT. 

The Minnesota Vikings’ best option is to sign Teddy Bridgewater (2 year deal w/option), draft a QB, and anoint TEDDY as their 2018 starter. Acquiring Kirk Cousins is putting too many eggs in next season’s proverbial basket.

The last thing I want is to be sitting here in a few years, with a sub-par roster, because of our overpaid QB. Gross. Let’s leave that shit to the Detroit Lions.

Matthew Stafford’s Contract:

Johnny Minnesota @TheJohnnyMN
Minnesota Sports Fan MinnesotaSportsFan.com

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