Vikings acknowledge their QB need

The Vikings need a quarterback and they aren’t afraid to say it. It could be letting potential free agents know that Minnesota might be interested.

The Vikings aren’t trying to keep a secret about their desire for a quarterback – young, old or somewhere in between – and it may not be limited to one. The acknowledgement could put teams drafting behind the Vikings at No. 12 on alert to move up, but in reality the Vikings are just stating the obvious.

However, in the bigger picture of things, there may be a method to the madness of letting the word out. There are multiple veteran quarterbacks with Pro Bowl experience – a short list includes Donovan McNabb, Matt Hasselback and Vince Young – that are scheduled to be available when a collective bargaining agreement is reached. It may be that the Vikings, intentional or not, are throwing out the cash-filled olive branch to the disgruntled, the displaced, the dispossessed. The grass will be greener in Minnesota.

The Vikings clearly are in the QB market with Brett Favre’s retirement and Tarvaris Jackson – a “Childress guy” – being a free agent. The Vikings are far from alone in being a franchise in need of a quarterback. Just those currently scheduled to pick in front of the Vikings on draft day include Carolina, Denver (Tebow love may have left with Josh McDaniels), Buffalo, Cincinnati, Arizona, Cleveland, San Francisco, Tennessee and Washington. It would have been easier to say that only Dallas and Houston don’t currently have a need at QB, but given their position in front of the Vikings (Dallas at No. 9 and Houston at No. 11) they could be ideal trade positions for both teams to move out of their spots and give way to a team looking at snagging a QB.

“I really hope we can get that quarterback position settled before we get to training camp," Frazier said at the Senior Bowl. "We have (to get) a good feel for, OK, this guy is going to give us a good chance when we get to camp to really compete and we’ve got the right two or three guys there who we feel like we’re going to compete for the NFC North next season. And then you can fill in all the other pieces to the puzzle. But just being able to sleep at night knowing that you put that to rest.”

Whether or not the Vikings are going to use their first-round draft pick on a QB or not, they have acknowledged the obvious – that they’re in the market for a quarterback and will be willing to spend to get a rookie and a veteran. Let the games begin.

THURSDAY NOTES

Talks are progressing for a Vikings stadium in the Twin Cities suburb of Arden Hills on the site of a former Army munitions plant. A meeting between Ramsey County commissioners and Ted Mondale, Gov. Mark Dayton’s stadium point man, is scheduled for today to discuss the feasibility of the Arden Hills location.

Talks are reportedly also underway between the Vikings and the University of Minnesota to potentially play at least one game at TCF Bank Stadium if the repairs to the Metrodome roof draft into the late summer.

Packers great Paul Hornung said in an interview Wednesday that he is convinced that Packers fans will forgive Brett Favre and welcome him back to the family with open arms. It may take some time, but Hornung said that Favre has meant so much to the franchise that forgiveness will take the place of the current resentment that he defected to the rival Vikings.

Favre’s daughter, Brittany, announced she got married Wednesday via Twitter, the new source of all information Favre-related.