Sage Rosenfels?

For a fourth-round pick? That's not awful, I suppose.

But still...does this really solve anything? Or is it just another grab at a cheaply available, mid- to low-talent veteran QB with no real upside (like Kelly Holcomb and Gus Frerotte)?

Probably the latter.

Instead of addressing their quarterback needs with either a solid draft pick (like I advocated Brian Brohm last year; the odds against fifth-round draft picks, like John David Booty, ever developing into anything useful are low) or trading or acquiring an above-average QB (such as Jeff Garcia or Donovan McNabb), it looks like the Vikings are heading back down the path of looking for the cheapest possible option at the position and hoping he can miraculously turn into a quality starter.

That might be possible with a good head coach, offensive coordinator, or QB coach. Unfortunately, we have Brad Childress and Darrell Bevell, which are about as far from "good" as can be imagined.

Rosenfels would bring a few positives to the team. He's a significant upgrade in accuracy (65.6% completion percentage in three years with the Texans), without sacrificing the deep ball (7.5 yards per attempt over that span). The downside is that he's a little mistake-prone, with 23 interceptions (and 24 TDs) in his 453 pass attempts with the Texans and is no threat to run, though he's taken only 16 sacks in three years. (Remember when we all though the Texans' offensive line was awful and then realized it was just David Carr?)

And then, of course, there was this play, which goes down with "The Orlovsky" as the worst plays by a quarterback in 2008. Must. Not. Do. Again.

Again, a fourth-round pick isn't a terrible price to pay, even if Rosenfels does nothing. And the deal's not done yet. If it's made, though, I hope the team doesn't view Rosenfels as a "savior" at the QB position. He's OK-but-not-great -- and not nearly as good as another QB the Vikings got for a fourth-rounder, 15 years ago.