The NFL season is in full bloom, and after a dazzling opening night performance by the Vikings in a 29-13 win over the New Orleans Saints, there was some talk of the purple and gold being a dark horse championship contender, as Sam Bradford had looked to have finally turned the corner from check-down Sam to gunslinging Sam. The new Bradford and excitement quickly faded away, as the old, always injured Sam Bradford came rearing its ugly head back last week, climaxing with being unable to play versus the Pittsburgh Steelers in which Minnesota would get blown out 26-9. The Case Keenum led offense was dismal, an out of order, broken down machine that could barely move the ball with the exception of two drives, and one that would shoot themselves in the foot with penalties whenever they seemed to be getting something going. Pittsburgh is one of the best teams in the league, but that secondary is not that good, and if Bradford had been playing that Sunday it would have been a lot closer, and maybe even ended up with the Vikings stealing one at Heinz Field. While Keenum ended up playing the game of his life against Tampa Bay, the odds are against Keenum having another game like that going forward. Now Minnesota sports fans have to watch 2016 all over again, except for this time it isn’t half the team getting injured, just the most important player at the most important position in any American sport. Bradford could be back on Sunday vs Detroit, he could also be out for six weeks straight and by the time he returns, another promising looking season in Minnesota has been flushed down the toilet.

Bradford’s injury now is much less severe than Bridgewater’s one last year, but at a worse timing. When Teddy went down last year, the Vikings had time to go out and either sign or trade for a quarterback, which they did, and have enough time to teach them the system where Bradford only missed one game all year because of it, and the rest of the year he was a quality starter on a good amount of Sunday’s. This year, a regular season game has been played, and bringing in someone right now who could play close to where Bradford was would still mean they miss two to three games so they can learn the system, and by the time they get into the starting lineup the season is either hanging by a thread or is lost. Kaepernick would be a good fit for the Vikings in my opinion. He’s coming off an under the radar year in which during the 12 games he played he threw for 16 touchdowns, compared to only 4 interceptions, and 2,241 yards. It’s not the 2012-2014 Kaepernick that was five yards away from winning a Super Bowl for the 49ers, but he’s good enough to be a good, slightly above average game managing quarterback who can help this team put up 21-28 points a game, which is normally more than enough to win with this stellar defense. Kaepernick could also use his speed to avoid an oncoming pass rush and make a play by taking off and running when the pocket collapses, something that will happen with a still shaky offensive line protecting him, and running most plays out of the shotgun will be of a benefit for him. But again the question is, as with every new quarterback, how fast can he get the system down? If he gets the majority of it down rather quickly and only misses one game because he’s not ready, it’s worth it. If he can’t seem to get it down and it’s three weeks on the sidelines before he is ready to play, and the team loses all three, then it could potentially end up being a waste of money unless Kap, or any quarterback we would sign, save’s the season. While Keenum isn’t mobile and doesn’t have good arm strength or accuracy, he knows the system, and he isn’t being brought in to learn it on the fly like anyone else, he already knows the system, which means the Vikings coaching staff, and fans, will probably have to hold their breaths and pray towards the heavens that Bradford’s knee gets healthy soon.

Now I would say that signing Kaepernick or someone else at QB to be the backup to Bradford would be a very good idea. They would be able to learn the system at a normal pace that wouldn’t overwhelm them, and you would also, most likely, have a better option at quarterback then Case Keenum if Sam Bradford were to get hurt again. But then, in thinking of signing a backup quarterback, Spielman and the front office will have to consider when the return of Teddy Bridgewater takes place. If Bridgewater returns right after week six, as some reports have said, then the Vikings may feel like they can ride out Keenum, hopefully win one or two games with him, and then put in Teddy. Or, most likely, Sam comes back week 3 or 4, and Minnesota rides it out with Keenum as the emergency option until Teddy comes back and sends Keenum back to 3rd string land where he belongs. If Bradford is still hurt, or not playing well, this is where the Bridgewater situation gets interesting. The fans will be yelling as loud as they can for Teddy to start as soon as he gets off of the pup, but personally it’s not realistic to think that. Bridgewater hasn’t experienced game action since a few drives against the Bengals during the 2016 preseason, he certainly won’t be ready to hit the field after only a few days in pads and over a year without putting on full pads, let alone facing a pass rush. It will take a week or two more of no game action to really get Teddy ready to return to the huddle on a Sunday afternoon, and when he does we don’t even know what Teddy he is going to be. Is he going to the dual threat game manager who helped to win the Vikings the NFC North crown in 2015 and become one of the greatest comeback stories in NFL history, or is he timid, doesn’t show much arm strength, and make poor decisions, leaving his name in lore as one of the NFL’s biggest what could have beens. You can only find out these questions about Bridgewater if you put him on the field, but how long until that is going to be will be factoring into the Vikings minds every time they think about what to do with Bradford and the nightmare of a quarterback situation that they face before possibly having to watch the team's season fall into darkness.