The Minnesota Vikings are coming into the 2014 season with major questions at quarterback and now that Matt Cassel has been released, the team could turn to names like Matt Schaub, Michael Vick, Josh McCown and Matt Flynn, or they could engineer a trade with Christian Ponder for players like Ryan Mallett or Kirk Cousins.
The Vikings finished the season 7-9 last year and Cassel was a steady option after he replaced Christian Ponder, but now, according to ESPN.com, Cassel is looking to get out of his contract by voiding the 2014 option and that would make him a free agent. Cassel is hoping to land a starting job with another team since the Vikings are a bit of a mess right now and have a new head coach in Mike Zimmer and since the market is not deep at the position, he feels he can sign somewhere else.
The Vikings are one of many teams that needs a quarterback this offseason and Cassel could find his way to the Houston Texans, Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars or Cleveland Browns. The Vikings will have to figure out whether Ponder is the answer or not and after three seasons it looks like he isn't and that could spark the team to make a trade for someone like Mallett. The Vikings are a young team and adding him at QB may be a good option, as the team has the eighth draft pick and names like Johnny Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater and Blake Bortles may be off the board by then.
Cassel played in nine games last season and passed for 1,807 yards with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions and he was set to make $3.7 million next season. Cassel had some solid performances for the team last season and while he will be 32 years old, he could be an option for a number of teams. There are a number of options on the open market for the Vikings, including Matt Schaub, Michael Vick, Josh McCown and Matt Flynn and if the team doesn't want to snag a top quarterback in the draft, that's a route they could take as well.
The Vikings were one of the worst passing teams in the league last season and passed for just 200 yards per game and now they will have to figure out what is next at the position. The Patriots could deal Mallett to someone and the Vikings could be a nice fit if they are willing to part with a number two draft pick.
