Adam Schefter, citing a league source, reports that if a team hires Vikings OC Pat Shurmur as their next head coach, he could bring impending free agent QB Case Keenum to his next stop.
Schefter says that Shurmur and Keenum have developed a close working relationship in which the two men “both think very highly of each other.”
As of now, the Cardinals, Bears, Lions and Giants have all shown interest in him.
As for Keenum, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported that the Vikings have made no attempts to sign Keenum to an extension, even though he’s in the midst of an impressive season and has Minnesota in a great position to possibly secure home-field advantage in the playoffs.
Sources have told La Canfora that not have the Vikings not made Keenum an offer, but Keenum’s representatives have not made any inquiries, either.
Keenum will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2017 season and several rival executives have told La Canfora that they believe the Vikings may have to use the transition or franchise tag to keep him from test the open market.
La Canfora says that it could ultimately cost the Vikings over $18 million per year to retain Keenum on a two-three bridge contract and his asking price will only increase based on how the team performs in the playoffs.
Keenum, 29, wound up signing on with the Texans as an undrafted free agent out of Houston back in 2013. He spent two years with the Texans before he was claimed off of waivers by the Rams.
Keenum later returned to the Texans before being traded back to the Rams for a 2016 seventh-round pick. The Rams elected to use a first-round tender on Keenum last year that paid him $3.635 million for the 2016 season.
The Vikings signed Keenum to a one-year, $2 million contract this offseason, so he’ll be an unrestricted free agent again next year.
In 2017, Keenum has appeared in 15 games for the Vikings thrown for 3,547 yards while completing 67.6 percent of his passes to go along with 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has also rushed for 160 yards and a touchdown.
Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 9 quarterback out of 40 qualifying players.
We have him featured in our Top 100 – 2018 NFL Free Agents list.
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