Vikings

Report: Josh Freeman Signing With The Vikings

October 6, 2013

Josh Freeman is going to the Vikings per league source.

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) October 7, 2013

Freeman’s agent, Erik Burkhardt, has already confirmed that he’ll be signing with the Vikings.
Jay Glazer reports that Freeman will fly to Minnesota in the morning.
Tom Pelissero reports that Minnesota intends to keep Freeman, Ponder and Cassel on their roster.
Ian Rapoport adds that Freeman talked with 10 different teams before deciding on Minnesota.

Vikings source on making the move:

“I think Josh Freeman is a good player,” a Vikings source told ESPN’s Josina Anderson. “We just have to figure out where things went wrong in Tampa Bay so we can help him. He is too young not to progress.“

Freeman’s contract:

Ian Rapoport reports that Freeman will sign a one-year deal with Minnesota.
Adam Schefter reports that Freeman’s one-year deal is worth $3 million.
Pro Football Talk reports that Freeman will only make $2 million, not $3 million from the Vikings.
Jay Glazer reports that Vikings wanted to sign him to a two-year deal, but Freeman was only willing to agree to a one-year contract.

Freeman, 25, will still be paid $6.2 million from the Buccaneers this season, which means that his combined salary will be over $9 million. Brian McIntyre notes that Freeman will make $11.43 million in total. Not bad for a guy who was released less than a week ago.

Freeman’s role with the team:

The Vikings were forced to start Matt Cassel while Christian Ponder was held out with a rib injury. Clearly, the Vikings intend to have Freeman compete with Ponder for the starting job.

Chris Mortensen reports that the Vikings will go into this week’s practices with Ponder listed as the starter.

“Josh Freeman is coming in as a backup quarterback for the time being,” a Vikings source told ESPN’s Josina Anderson. “We have to see how he learns and have him adjust to our system. As long as Christian [Ponder] or Matt [Cassel] are having success, and the team is playing well, they’ll continue to run our offense. We wouldn’t make a change just to make a change. But, if we struggle as a team then we have to consider when we will put Josh on the field.“