It is pretty hard to argue that Matt Cassel was anything other than the Vikings best quarterback in 2013. It is also hard to argue that they don’t need to improve at the position and can’t afford to take steps backwards.
1500ESPN’s Darren Wolfson, however, reports that source told him Wednesday that Matt Cassel intends to void the second and final year of his Minnesota Contract. If he indeed goes through with it, then he is essentially wagering that he can do better than the $3.7 million one-year deal he would have been playing for in 2014.
Many have expressed surprise that Cassel would bail on a nice payday like what he was owed, but I am not at all surprised. I listed Cassel as the Vikings top internal free agent candidate and actually assumed he would void the deal. With such slim pickings at the quarterback position this offseason when it comes to free agents, he could easily be trading a nice one year deal for a nice longer-term deal.
Both Josh McCown and Michael Vick are a few years older than Cassel, so is arguably the most attractive free agent option at the position this offseason. He won’t be breaking anyone’s bank, that is for sure, but I’m sure he’ll come out of this with more long-term stability than if he had played under the one year deal.
The only real question for the Vikings at this point is whether or not they want to attempt to re-sign Cassel for more money and commitment, or begin the offseason by taking a small step backwards at the quarterback position while also clearing some cap space. It would not be a total shocker to see Cassel still end up back in Minnesota to play under Norv Turner.
With quarterback Josh Freeman also scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent, it is entirely possible that Christian Ponder is this team’s only quarterback option at this moment in time.