Jeff Garcia, Not Matt Cassel, Might Be Better Fit for Vikings

Depending on who you ask, Matt Cassel is either a franchise quarterback or just a guy who benefited greatly from playing with Randy Moss and Wes Welker. It's sort of an important question for teams in need of a quarterback, particularly given how much it's going to cost to acquire Cassel.

NFL Films Greg Cosell writes that Cassel is best when the offense is built around his strengths, while ESPN's Mel Kiper declares that he'd take Cassel over Aaron Rodgers or Jay Cutler.

The Vikings are most often mentioned as the team that's "a quarterback away from the Super Bowl," which also means that whenever the conversation turns to Cassel's future, Minnesota is immediately identified as a landing spot. Cassel's success with the Vikings (and anywhere, really) would be contingent on head coach Brad Childress' willingness to tweak the offense, something he's been unable to do with Tarvaris Jackson.

Which is why 37-year-old Gus Frerotte continues to make his case for the starting job. One alternative that doesn't involve giving up first-round picks or a huge chunk of the salary cap: sign Jeff Garcia. Sure, it's not ideal -- Garcia's one of the few players in the league older than Frerotte -- but he's well-versed in the West Coast offense, and played well for the Bucs last season.

The Star Tribune's Judd Zulgad has the details:

"I do feel like I have football life in me," Garcia told the St. Petersburg Times. "I'm pretty sure there's going to be something out there for me." ...

The Vikings passed on the chance to try to add Garcia after the 2006 season, but there is now one big difference. The Vikings were coming off a 6-10 finish in 2006 and likely believed they were more than a quarterback away from turning the corner. After winning the NFC North with a 10-6 record in 2008, the Vikings appear set to make a legitimate playoff run, if they have the right quarterback in place.

I wonder where the Vikings would be today if they had signed Garcia three years ago, although I understand why they didn't. (Plus, even if they had, they -- like every other team that Garcia has played for since leaving the 49ers -- probably would've started looking for his replacement 15 minutes after bringing him in.)

Whatever, Garcia, even in the short term, could give the Vikings the best chance at the postseason. But in a year's time, it's back to square one -- the team will again be looking for a quarterback, and preferably one who isn't halfway to 80.