Vikings claim Rosenfels; McNabb unclaimed

The Vikings replaced Donovan McNabb with Sage Rosenfels in an expensive bit of maneuvering of third-string quarterbacks.

The Vikings have claimed QB Sage Rosenfels off waivers to replace Donovan McNabb. The story was first reported by FOXSports.com.

Rosenfels was placed on the Miami Dolphins’ reserve/non-football injury listed from complications from illness, but he was released Thursday and claimed off waivers by the Vikings on Friday.

Rosenfels didn’t play in any games with the Dolphins this year, but he was with the Vikings in 2009 (with a different offense and coordinator). He didn’t play in any games behind Brett Favre in 2009, and the Vikings traded him to the New York Giants before the 2010 season for future picks. The Vikings were able to unload Rosenfels one day before he likely would have been released.

The Vikings traded a fourth-round draft pick to the Houston Texans in 2009 to obtain Rosenfels and he was expected to battle Tarvaris Jackson for the starting job. But that all changed when Brett Favre signed with the Vikings on Aug. 18 in 2009.

Jackson ended up winning the No. 2 job and Rosenfels was inactive for every game in 2009. In 2010, Rosenfels was never able to gain the confidence of the coaching staff to compete for the No. 2 job and was traded.

At the time, the Vikings were developing then-rookie Joe Webb and Rosenfels was scheduled to make $2.6 million in base salary. This time around, the Vikings will owe him only the prorated portion of his $1.5 million salary, or $441,176 for the final five games.

However, with Donovan McNabb going unclaimed on waivers Friday, the Vikings are on the hook for McNabb’s remaining $1.5 million in salary, in addition to Rosenfels’ prorated salary. So, essentially, the Vikings’ No. 3 quarterback spot will cost them almost $2 million for the final five games of the season.

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Tim Yotter is the publisher of Viking Update. Follow Viking Update on Twitter and discuss this topic on our message boards. To become a subscriber to the Viking Update web site or magazine, click here.

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Tim Yotter is the publisher of Viking Update. Follow Viking Update on Twitter and discuss this topic on our message boards. To become a subscriber to the Viking Update web site or magazine, click here.

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