NFL Rumors: Vikings to trade Christian Ponder, not cut him
By Josh Hill
The Minnesota Vikings are in an offseason in which they need to make massive improvements if they plan on making their mark the way they hope to in 2014.
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One way to improve for the Vikings may be to subtract some players from their roster and Christian Ponder has long been a guy that fans no longer want any part of.
According to Charley Walters of TwinCities.com, the Vikings are unlikely to cut Ponder until the final possible moment as they plan on stepping up efforts to trade him instead.
"Because Ponder, 26, is guaranteed $1.8 million this year, the Vikings aren’t likely to release him but hope to trade him, probably in August to a team that needs a backup QB. Ponder’s trade value probably is just a seventh-round draft pick or so, but more significant for the Vikings, that would save them $1.8 million."
This seems to suggest that no matter which way you slice it, Ponder is done in Minnesota and we can expect him to not be a part of the team in 2014. Of course, there’s a chance that he could rebound in training camp and somehow win the backup job over Matt Cassel, but the money that the Vikings gave Cassel is to not only play a significant role on the team but to mentor rookie Teddy Bridgewater as well.
Ponder is not in a position to mentor and he seems to be someone who could find his footing in another situation on a different roster.