Despite the arrival of Brett Favre, the Minnesota Vikings will continue to carry four quarterbacks on the roster for the foreseeable future.
Per a league source, the Vikings plan to make no moves, given the possibility that Favre (or maybe someone else) will get injured during the preseason.
We’re also told that, while Favre will start Friday night’s preseason game against the Chiefs, he’ll participate in one drive “at most.” Tarvaris Jackson then will get the balance of the work with the first-team offense, with Sage Rosenfels and John David Booty mopping up.
In the end, it remains to be seen whether the Vikings cut or trade one of the quarterbacks. The assumption is that Sage Rosenfels is safe. Jackson carries a base salary of only $535,000, which makes him an inexpensive No. 3 -- and possibly a candidate for a trade to a team like the Rams.
We recently mentioned the possibility of cutting Booty and sliding him through waivers and onto the practice squad. The problem, however, is that he picked up an accrued year in 2008, and thus he’s ineligible for the practice squad.
[UPDATE: Wrong again, Florio. Booty did not rack up an accrued year in 2008, because he was active for zero games. So he remains eligible for the practice squad. That said, he’d still have to pass through waivers before being inked to the practice squad.]
So, in the end, the Vikings will have to decide whether to keep four quarterbacks, or whether to get rid of Jackson or Booty.