The Minnesota Vikings announced on Wednesday that Josh Freeman will get the start at quarterback on Monday night against the New York Giants. Freeman signed with the Vikings just over a week ago, days after he was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
It was previously reported that Freeman had a chance to start this week for his new team as long as he could familiarize himself with the playbook in time. Christian Ponder, who began the season as Minnesota’s quarterback, has been nursing a rib injury. Matt Cassel played well in a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers before the bye week, but he threw two interceptions in a blowout loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
Simply put, the Vikings probably can’t do any worse. Freeman has a strong arm and plenty of experience, even if he did play poorly this season in Tampa Bay. He has proven he can win games at the NFL level, which is something that has been a challenging task for the Vikings this season.
When Freeman starts on Sunday, he’ll become the first NFL quarterback to start for two teams in one season since Kyle Orton started for the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos in 2011. Now we’ll be able to get a better feel for whether or not his poor play in Tampa was the direct result of a tarnished relationship with head coach Greg Schiano.
