Case Keenum rumors: Vikings will let him test free agency

With his value at its highest point, the Minnesota Vikings will allow Case Keenum to hit the free agent market unabated.

The Vikings reached the NFC Championship Game last season, with Case Keenum enjoying a breakthrough season. The window for the team to franchise tag him ahead of free agency is open, but according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network the Vikings are not expected to do so.

Keenum completed close to 68 percent of his passes with 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions over 15 regular season games (14 starts). But Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer was never willing to fully commit to Keenum as the starting quarterback, under the guise of wanting to create competitive tension and get his best level of play.

And it mostly worked. But there were enough bumps in the road, most notably a two-interception game in a December loss to the Carolina Panthers, to make Keenum’s drop-off in play during two playoff games a realization of what Zimmer feared.

The Vikings may have a bigger plan to get a quarterback in free agency, with Kirk Cousins a potential target. A combination of a theoretically fully healthy Teddy Bridgewater and another veteran (Josh McCown?, Sam Bradford?) is also possible, with a competition for the starting job to come during training camp and preseason games.

The franchise tag would be nice financially for Keenum, and it would give the Vikings the ability to avoid a longer commitment. But even fully guaranteed it’s also only a one-year deal, and Keenum surely has his eye on a multi-year deal if one is out there for him.

Keenum’s value will never be greater than it is right now, with a resume that says he’s a backup. So it’s easy to assume any early discussions between he and the Vikings have been separated at the idea of a significant long-term deal. The two sides could still come back together, but Keenum looks to be strictly a fallback option for Minnesota if a different plan falls apart.

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