Three Points

In a show of their dedication to mediocrity, the Minnesota Vikings appear close to dealing a fourth round draft pick to the Houston Texans for QB Sage Rosenfels.

With Tavaris Jackson showing few signs of developing as a starter and free agent Gus Ferrotte refusing to return unless he's named the starter, the Vikes will go in a different direction and barter a second day draft pick for a band aid to apply to a wound that needs better first aid.

Sorry if it seems like I'm taking a shot at Sage, but if I'm running a front office and I need a starting quarterback, would I go after a career back-up journeyman signal-caller that will be 31 by the start of the season, or do I spend more for a long-term solution in Matt Cassel?

Yeah it's a tough economy, but draft picks don't cost anything.

Once the trade is completed, the Vikes will sign Rosenfels to a new deal. It will be a substantial raise, but well below starter's money. Rosenfels probably will get five to several million per year. A trade for Cassel though, besides the cost of a first round and second round pick (at least if you ask me), Cassel probably would demand a $10 million per year deal.

While Rosenfels has more playing experience over the course of seven seasons, his TD-to-Int ratio is about 1-for-1 and a 4-3 win loss record as a starter. On the other hand, Cassel was almost 2-for-1, won 10 of 15 starts, and is four years younger.

We've seen the best from Rosenfels. Cassel improved astronomically over the couse of the 2008 season and has room to get better.

Yeah, Minnesota has a dominant running game so the quarterback only has to not screw it up for the most part. But who would you rather under center when the game is on the line? And how many good years does Rosenfels have left?

You could had paid a premium price for Cassel but the Vikings are being cheap. Fine. Be that way. Enjoy having the top rushing offense and rush defense and a mediocre team that gets bounced out of the Wild Card round, if Minnesota gets that far.

I don't know how this impacts the market for Cassel, but less competition for his services isn't in New England's favor.

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Staying in the backfield, recently released RB Fred Taylor will visit with New England and Buffalo as he looks for a new team to play for after eleven years with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

While I would welcome Taylor if he decides to sign with the Patriots, that's not the only action New England should take to ensure quality depth at the position. I'm still on the Shonn Greene tip (a little more on him later).

Taylor would be a significant upgrade over the oft-injured LaMont Jordan. I wouldn't expect Taylor's impact to be equal to Corey Dillion when the Pats traded with Cincinnati back in 2004. But adding Taylor to the rotation with Sammy Morris, BenJarvis Green-Ellis, and Lawrence Maroney (maybe) would create a stacked backfield that could improve on the sixth best rushing attack.

The question is whether Taylor would accept a complementary role. With Jacksonville, Taylor knew either he or Maurice Jones-Drew would get the carries. With the Pats, he might get about 10 touches per game.

But in Buffalo, Taylor would have the chance to back-up Marshawn Lynch by beating out Fred Jackson. Considering Lynch's legal problems and a possible suspension, it opens the door for even more playing time for Taylor.

So what does Taylor value more, playing time, or competing for a championship? That decision is up to him. But Taylor would be a great fit with the Pats.

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The NFL Combine is almost over. I'll admit, I tuned in a little here and there. I saw Greene run a 4.6-second 40-yard dash, which isn't too surprising. I missed out on some of the other players that intrigue me.

When talking about the competition for 3-4 players, especially linebackers, head coach Bill Belichick kinda mentioned Larry English and Brian Orakpo.

NFL.com was nice enough to list top performers for various drills, but they don't list every player, just the top eleven at every position for every drill.

But I'm more interested in the profiles. Here's a few players that I'm the most curious about:

Shonn Greene

Larry English

Connor Barwin