Beyond Favre

So it’s on. Brett Favre is going to quarterback the Vikings to a Super Bowl in 2009. Or maybe not.

Which still leaves the Vikings looking for a long-term answer at quarterback in 2010. You know this is true because whether Favre’s 2009 excellent Vikings adventure turns out well or not so well, he’ll retire once the season is over. And then what?

Well, I guess the Vikings could try to get Favre out of retirement again – we know he’ll at least listen. Failing that they’ve still got Sage Rosenfels (how pissed is he after this little charade?) under contract for another two seasons. They could try to draft a hot shot college quarterback in the first round – someone like Sam Bradford or Colt McCoy. Or they can hope some elite or potentially elite quarterback is available next offseason.

But elite quarterbacks aren’t available very often. Yes, Jay Cutler was, but the Vikings blew that one.

So whom am I focusing my quarterback fantasies on? Whom am I hoping will become available next offseason when Favre says he’s done for the third straight offseason?

Philip Rivers.

I’ve never been a Rivers guy. I think his funny throwing motion has always put me off. But then I look at his numbers. He’s completed 62.3 per cent of his passes over his short career. Last year he threw for 4,009 yards, 34 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions. He’s never thrown for less than 3,100 yards or 21 touchdowns in three seasons as a starter. His career interception rate is a very good 2.5 per cent. He’s done all this with receivers like Eric Parker, Chris Chambers, Vincent Jackson and Malcolm Floyd to throw to. He’s 28 and he’s entering the final year of the rookie contract he signed in 2004.

Eli Manning, drafted three picks ahead of Rivers in ’04, recently signed a big contract extension. So Rivers will almost certainly be looking for as much money – if not more – than Manning got. I expect the San Diego Chargers want to sign their franchise quarterback to a lucrative extension. But then I also thought the Denver Broncos would never consider trading a 26-year-old quarterback coming off a Pro Bowl. Anything can happen.

And there are some similarities in the personalities of Rivers and Cutler that could make signing Rivers to an extension problematic. Both players strike me as cocky and emotional guys, easily angered and hurt, guys who take the business side of the game too personally. It’s not so hard to dream up a scenario where contract talks between Rivers and the Chargers go badly, Rivers blows a gasket and vows never to resign with San Diego. Then the Chargers and the Vikings work out a pre-draft trade where the Vikings send a bunch of draft picks to the Chargers (which they use to trade up and draft a Bradford or McCoy) and the Vikings get Rivers.

With our defence, Adrian Peterson to hand off to and Bernard Berrian, Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin to throw to, the Vikings can win a lot of games with Philip Rivers as their quarterback.

It's a fantasy and terribly far-fetched. But wasn’t there a time when Brett Favre wearing a Viking uniform seemed far-fetched too?