Barnwell: Vikings should only keep Keenum if they cannot sign Cousins

ESPN writer Bill Barnwell recently offered his opinion on the Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback situation and what the team should do about it this offseason.

Like it or not, the quarterback debate for the Minnesota Vikings is going to go on until they actually decide who their starter for 2018 is going to be. A decision could be made within the current month, or in March after free agency begins, or even all the way into the Vikings’ preseason.

At least Minnesota has options to choose from, right? Everything would probably be a whole lot easier if at least one of their three quarterbacks who took a snap last season were still under contract for 2018.

But the Vikings never like to do things the easy way, do they?

So while Minnesota waits for an opportunity to franchise tag someone (can do so starting on February 20) or sign a quarterback during free agency (which begins on March 14), everyone and their mother is gong to weigh in on what the team should do for next season under center.

On Tuesday, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell released an article looking at five things each NFC North team should do during the 2018 offseason.

Regarding the Vikings, Barnwell believes the team should try and figure out a way to keep Case Keenum in town without using the franchise tag on him.

"“Franchising Keenum allows the Vikings to get away if Keenum’s 2017 was a mirage, but it also possibly locks the Vikings into the Cousins Cycle, where their quarterback (rightfully) feels disrespected and it ends up torpedoing the franchise.What I’d do is give Keenum a long-term contract similar to the initial Tyrod Taylor extension in Buffalo under Doug Whaley. That deal was essentially a one-year pact with the ability to trigger a multiyear extension after the initial campaign”"

This would be a great scenario for Minnesota if they were actually able to convince Keenum to sign a deal like this. It would allow the Vikings to keep the quarterback in town with a multi-year contract, but also give the team the ability to get out of his deal if Keenum’s 2017 campaign did indeed turn out to be nothing more than a fluke.

However, Barnwell only believes this is the route Minnesota should take with their quarterback conundrum if the team is unable to land Kirk Cousins in free agency. Going after Cousins is what Barnwell thinks the Vikings should at least make an attempt in doing.

Minnesota Vikings

"“If Cousins wants to win right away, there’s no better landing spot for him on the free market than Minnesota. As much as it would hurt to move on from Keenum, and as much as you’ll hear about how Mike Zimmer wants to build around his defense, you don’t pass up on Cousins.The Vikings could comfortably fit a five-year, $120 million deal for Cousins on their cap without having to shed talent in the short term.”"

So essentially, Barnwell believes Minnesota should first try and sign Cousins and if that doesn’t turn out to be a success, try and figure something out with Keenum.

The only problem with this scenario is that Keenum may not be around anymore if the Vikings strike out on signing Cousins. Then Minnesota would be left with neither quarterback for 2018.

Next: Manziel to Minnesota? It may actually be possible

But if that happened to the Vikings, would that really surprise anyone?