The Minnesota Vikings unofficially have become the safe haven for wayward Rams quarterbacks.
The Vikings have signed Los Angeles free agent Case Keenum to a one-year, $2 million contract, ESPN.com is reporting. He becomes the third former Rams quarterback to find his way to the Vikings in the last three years.
Former Rams QB Shaun Hill signed a two-year, $6.5 million deal with Minnesota in 2015. Then just before the start of the 2016 season, the Vikings traded their first-round draft pick in 2017 and fourth-rounder in 2018 to the Philadelphia Eagles for Sam Bradford, the Rams’ former No. 1 overall draft pick in 2010.
Keenum replaces Hill, whose contract expired in 2016. Keenum started the first nine games of last season for the Rams, Keenum completed 60.9 percent of his passes for a career-high 2,201 yards with nine touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
The former University of Houston phenom had a career-best 87.7 passer rating in 2015 after going 3-2 in five starts for the then-St. Louis Rams.
Keenum is in Minnesota because the Vikings still do not have a timetable for the return of quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who suffered a dislocated left knee and torn ACL on Aug. 30, according to ESPN.com. That virtually guarantees that Bradford will be the Vikings starter for the 2017 season opener.
The only other quarterback on the Vikings roster is third-year player Taylor Heincke out of Old Dominion.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times in December, Keenum was philosophical about his impending free agency:
“Off the field, a lot of really good stuff — we had some great moments on the field, too,” he told the Times. “So you try to take away some good things and learn from what you didn’t do well. And improve on how you played, certain areas you can work on in the offseason, and you come back a better man for it.”
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