The glass is half full edition

If you scroll down to the end of this story, you'll find a list of players the Vikings have signed since free agency started (minus Benny Sapp, but more on that later).

The list should probably include a “Just missed” section with the T.J. Houshmandzadeh's under it. While I was disappointed the Vikings couldn’t sign Houshmandzadeh, I’m not disappointed I’ll no longer have to spell his last name. Besides, Sidney Rice could make us forget about Houshmandzadeh.

Houshmandzadeh will be 32 before the 2009 season ends. He is not going to get any better. At best, the Seahawks will get two good-to-great years out of him before they enter into the annual cut him/don’t cut him territory teams face when they sign older players to expensive, long-term contracts.

So if Rice can catch 50-plus passes for 600-700 yards, plus increase his touchdown catch total, losing Houshmandzadeh to the Seahawks will have been a blessing. That type of year sees the Vikings offer Rice a contract extension. And if Rice signs it, the Vikings will lock up an improving 23-year-old receiver for a long time and they’ll have him a lot longer than the Seahawks will have Houshmandzadeh.

Rosenfels and Visanthe Shiancoe
I was going to write a blurb about how Visanthe Shiancoe has to be happy that Sage Rosenfels is on his team. The genesis of the idea must have come from thinking back to Houston’s visit to the Metrodome, where Texans starting tight end Owen Daniels caught 11 passes for 133 yards from Matt Schaub and Rosenfels.

But that angle got shot to hell when I started researching the statistics Daniels put up playing with Schaub and Rosenfels. In the games each quarterback started and finished, Daniels averaged 3.6 catches and 39.7 yards per game when Rosenfels was his QB and 4.7 catches and 59.3 yards per game when Schaub was his QB.

Mind you, if Shiancoe averages 3.6 catches and 39.7 yards per game with Rosenfels (I’m assuming he’ll beat out Tarvaris Jackson, which might be assuming too much), that would give Shiancoe about 57 catches and 635 yards in 2009 – both career-high totals.

Where was I going with this again?

Rosenfels, continued
In the running argument going on in my head since the Rosenfels trade – the argument where I try to talk myself into believing he can improve the Vikings quarterback situation just enough to turn a 10-win team into a 12-win team – I see a lot of stats to like.

Rosenfel’s got a high completion percentage, the sack rate is good and the yards-per-pass-attempt is good. But the touchdown/interception ratio is not so good.

But that ratio is skewed somewhat by stats from his time as a reserve in Miami (a 6-6 TD/INT ratio) when he didn’t have the game experience he has now. And, in 2008, four of his 10 interceptions came in a blowout loss against a Baltimore defence that was one of the best in the NFL. So I’m thinking the concern that Rosenfels is Frerotteian when it comes to throwing interceptions might be overblown.

Am I reaching too much to convince myself that Rosenfels could be the answer for the Vikings? Absolutely. What we can say about Rosenfels is he’s the youngest and best career backup quarterback Brad Childress has ever traded for.

Cassel watch
The two teams I follow closely in the NFL besides the Vikings are the Packers and the Bears. I’ve also taken to following the Patriots ever since Randy Moss joined the team because my sports love affair with Ole’ 84 refuses to die.

In 2009 there will be one more team I’ll be following – the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s not because the Chiefs interest me but because Matt Cassel interests me – a player some NFL experts thought the Vikings would go after. That the Chiefs got him and linebacker Mike Vrabel from New England for a second round pick seems like a pretty reasonable gamble to me.

The Vikings chose not to take that gamble. Or maybe they weren’t given the opportunity. Either way, I’ll be watching Cassel in 2009. If he stinks it up in K.C., it will be the first sign that Brad Childress and Rick Spielman possibly might know what they are doing when it comes to picking quarterbacks. But if Cassel plays well in K.C., it's more evidence suggesting Childress and Spielman don’t know how to evaluate the sport’s most important position.

Another (yawn) signing
The Vikes have re-signed reserve defensive back Benny Sapp.

Sapp took some dumb penalties at times last year but overall he seemed to play decently. I don’t think this is a bad signing. But it probably doesn’t say much about Marcus McCauley’s future with the team.

You might remember when the Vikings drafted McCauley in the third round in 2007, there was talk the Vikes got a first round talent. Now McCauley barely dresses on Sundays and Sapp’s signing means that won’t change next season.