Did Sage Save T-Jack?

5 pm Saturday is the deadline for teams to trim their rosters to 53.  Even as we speak, Rick Spielman, Brad Childress and company are agonizing over who to keep, who to send packing, and who to try and sneak onto the practice squad.

The quarterback situation was by far the stickiest one going into Friday night’s preseason finale against Dallas.  Far from clearing things up, the various QBs’ performances in that game made the water even muddier.

Brett Favre, as we know, spent the entire game on the sideline in a t-shirt joking with his new teammates and pretending to help the other quarterbacks.  Tarvaris Jackson played the first half, and looked fairly decent again, albeit against second-team defensive players.

Then things got interesting.  Sage Rosenfels entered in the second half and basically stunk up the joint, throwing an interception that caused Chilly to prematurely pull him from the game.  John David Booty replaced Rosenfels, threw a pick on his first pass…and got yanked by Captain Hook Childress.

Chilly was frank about his back-up quarterbacks after the game.  “At times it was embarrassing,” said the coach.  “I end up putting that on myself. Not having them ready to come out of the locker room at halftime. All the quarterbacks I have ever coached have some regard for the football and you can’t throw it to them [Dallas].”

Chilly’s open irritation with Rosenfels has led some to believe that T-Jack has not only been rescued from being traded, but is the solid #2 behind Favre.  Others, like me, think it still makes more sense to trade Jackson, given that Rosenfels is locked up for three years, while Jackson is a free agent after this season.

I really don’t know why one bad stretch in a meaningless preseason game with back-up linemen and back-up receivers should end Rosenfels’ tenure as a Viking.  He’s still a more experienced, reliable and non-injury-prone option than Jackson, who admittedly has looked good his last couple of appearances.

All our questions will be answered by 5 pm.  Well, not all our questions.  Just the ones about who will be on the Vikings’ 53-man roster.  We’ll have to wait a little longer to find out the Colonel’s secret recipe.