The Minnesota Vikings are trying to trade quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, according to Judd Zulgad and Chip Scoggins of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Specifically, the team has called other franchises to gauge the market for Jackson’s services.
This doesn’t mean a deal will be made, and it likewise doesn’t mean that the Vikings will cut Jackson if they don’t get an acceptable offer.
One thing that makes Jackson somewhat attractive is his contract. Quarterbacks with starting experience (20 games in three years, including playoffs) usually aren’t available at a base salary of only $535,000.
As we’ve previously pointed out, one of the teams most likely to be interested in Jackson is the Packers. The Vikings would be stoopid to trade him to Green Bay, however; Jackson has intimate knowledge of the team’s offense. And if there’s no suitor for Jackson the smart move might be to keep him, because there’s a chance he’d end up in green and gold.
Since Jackson has fewer than four years of experience, he would pass through waivers before becoming a free agent. This would give teams like the Lions and Rams and Chiefs first crack at him. And that’s another reason for any team with a good record in 2008 that has a need at quarterback to consider Jackson.
One such good team that might need to be thinking about the quality of its backups is the Steelers. Charlie Batch occupies the spot on the depth chart behind Ben Roethlisberger, and Dennis Dixon might not be ready to take over the No. 2 position. Also, Jackson’s play is somewhat similar to Roethlisberger’s, in that Jackson is adept at getting out of the pocket and making throws while running laterally.
“You never know with this business, period,” Jackson told the Star Tribune. “I just take it as it is. Whatever happens, happens. I can’t control it. I just try and get better, that’s it. I can’t worry about [whether he gets traded or released]. I’m not worried about it because I can’t control it. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen whether I worry or not.”
Jackson was a second-round pick in 2006, a product of the only draft conducted by the “triangle of authority” consisting of coach Brad Childress, V.P. of football operations Rob Brzezinski, and director of player personnel Fran Foley.
And, yeah, we added that last part because we don’t mention Fran Foley, who was fired in the days after the 2006 draft after only a few months on the job, nearly as much as we’d like to.