Could Case Keenum be on his way back to Minnesota?

The former Minnesota Vikings quarterback is a free agent this year and his old team just happens to be in need of a new backup behind Kirk Cousins.

No one will ever forget the magic Case Keenum helped create for the Minnesota Vikings back during the 2017 season. That year remains the most success the Vikings have experienced under Mike Zimmer since he was hired to be the team’s head coach in 2014.

Despite Minnesota’s success with him under center, the team didn’t bring Keenum back in 2018 to be their starting quarterback. Instead, the Vikings went after the big fish in the free-agent pond and threw a bunch of money at Kirk Cousins to be their new starting signal-caller.

Two years later, Cousins is still Minnesota’s starter and Keenum is about to enter free agency after stints with the Washington Redskins and Denver Broncos.

With Sean Mannion not under contract for 2020, the Vikings could be in the market for a new backup quarterback this offseason. There’s a chance that Minnesota could go with Jake Browning as their No. 2 signal-caller next season since he’s the only other passer on their current roster. But the Vikings could also see what options are available in free agency this year too.

It might seem like a long shot to some, but there’s a chance Minnesota could look into potentially bringing Keenum back to be their backup for 2020. There are a few reasons why this could actually happen.

First, Keenum is still familiar with a lot of the guys on the Vikings’ current roster, including some of their top offensive players like Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs, and Kyle Rudolph.

Second, he’s got a connection to Gary Kubiak, Minnesota’s new offensive coordinator. Kubiak gave Keenum his first opportunity in the NFL back in 2012 with the Houston Texans and the Vikings assistant coach played a big part in the quarterback signing with the Broncos in 2018.

So Keenum is not only familiar with the players in Minnesota’s offense, he’s familiar with the actual scheme the offense will be running next season.

When looking at the fact that he likely won’t be expensive to sign and that he has experience in working with Kubiak, Keenum seems like a logical choice to be the Vikings’ backup in 2020. However, there are some factors that could prevent him from landing back in Minnesota as well.

For starters, Zimmer never really thought very highly of the veteran quarterback during his one-year stint with the Vikings. Minnesota’s head coach thought Keenum’s success in 2017 was more a product of him just catching lightning in a bottle.

But if the Vikings are just going to bring in the free-agent quarterback as a backup for next season, then maybe it will be easier to convince Zimmer that it’s a good decision.

The biggest reason that will likely prevent Keenum from re-joining Minnesota this offseason is the potential that his presence on the sideline could result in some unwanted controversy.

If Cousins starts to play poorly or the Vikings get off to a slow start next season, there will be a bunch of people who will be calling for Keenum to replace him as the team’s starter. Judging by how much Zimmer has loved answering questions in the past about who his starting quarterback will be, this seems like a situation the head coach would just like to avoid altogether.

So while Keenum’s familiarity with the roster and Kubiak would seem to make him a great candidate to be Minnesota’s backup behind Cousins in 2020, the potential controversy that could result from his return might be what prevents this reunion from ever happening.