The Vikings were set at the top of the quarterback depth chart with Sam Bradford, but they needed to make sure they had a reliable backup since there were still plenty of questions surrounding the health of Teddy Bridgewater after his brutal knee injury in 2016, and that’s where Keenum came in.<\/p>\n
How it went![\"Minnesota](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/01kw69dndq7jg58f2y4e.jpg\" "\\"Minnesota")
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Former Minnesota Vikings QB Case Keenum | Jason Getz-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Well, Keenum’s one year with Minnesota almost ended before the 2017 regular season even began.<\/p>\n
He was in a battle for the backup job with Taylor Heinicke in training camp, and some had their doubts<\/a> about Keenum actually playing well enough during the summer to deserve the No. 2 job behind Bradford.<\/p>\n The Vikings eventually cut Heinicke and entered the 2017 season with Keenum as their backup, with the hopes that he wouldn’t be needed for any valuable time on the field.<\/p>\n Thanks to Bradford having the knees of a 95-year-old, however, Keenum was in Minnesota’s starting lineup by Week 2, and he remained the team’s starter until Week 5 against the Chicago Bears when the Vikings attempted to see if Bradford was healthy enough to play again.<\/p>\n It didn’t take long to find out he wasn’t, as the Bears sacked him four times in the first half, and he was eventually pulled in favor of Keenum, who went on to help lead Minnesota to a 20-17 win.<\/p>\n Keenum went on to start the remaining 11 games on the Vikings’ 2017 schedule, and during that stretch, he led the team to a 10-1 record, with their only loss coming in a Week 14 thriller against the Carolina Panthers.<\/p>\n Minnesota won the NFC North in 2017, earned a first-round bye in the playoffs, and their sights were set on playing in a Super Bowl inside their own building. <\/p>\n Keenum and the Vikings’ first postseason matchup was against Sean Payton and the hated New Orleans Saints. A bitter taste from the 2009 championship was still lingering inside the mouths of Minnesota fans, and they wanted nothing more than to send Payton and the Saints back to New Orleans with a loss.<\/p>\n Two quarters in, everything was going great. The Vikings had a 17-0 lead, the Saints couldn’t do anything on offense, and all signs pointed to a Minnesota win.<\/p>\n But then came the second half, and that was a totally different story.<\/p>\n This time it was the Vikings’ offense that struggled, and New Orleans putting together scoring drive after scoring drive. With three minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Saints took a 21-20 lead, and it seemed like a win was slipping out of Minnesota’s hands.<\/p>\n Both teams traded field-goal drives after that, and everything came down to the final 25 seconds. The Vikings needed more of Keenum’s magic, and man, did he come through.<\/p>\n Seven years ago today… <\/p>\n A Miracle took place in Minneapolis. pic.twitter.com\/qGPpNPI1yH<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NFL (@NFL) January 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Keenum, of course, found receiver Stefon Diggs near the right sideline, and the connection turned into a 61-yard game-winning (miraculous) touchdown.<\/p>\n Plays like this<\/a> never went in favor of Minnesota, so the entire fanbase was in shock when the unthinkable actually happened.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, the excitement from the Divisional Round win and the success during the regular season didn’t carry over to the NFC Championship against the Philadelphia Eagles for the Vikings.<\/p>\n Keenum’s magic ran out after Minnesota’s first offensive drive of the game in Philadelphia, and the Vikings fell one game short of playing in a Super Bowl inside U.S. Bank Stadium<\/p>\n How it ended<\/p>\n After a disappointing end to a magical 2017 season for Minnesota, the top conversation in the fanbase quickly shifted to deciding whether Keenum should be re-signed in the offseason or not.<\/p>\n Could what the veteran quarterback did with the Vikings in 2017 be duplicated in 2018 and beyond?<\/p>\n Eventually, Minnesota decided the answer to that question was no, and instead of bringing Keenum back, they backed up the Brinks truck to sign former Washington Commanders quarterback Kirk Cousins.<\/p>\n Due to his success with the Vikings, Keenum was still able to land a nice payday during the 2018 offseason when he signed a two-year contract with the Denver Broncos worth $36 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n During his next few stops around the NFL, Keenum was never able to have anywhere close to the success that he had in 2017 with Minnesota, and at the same time, Cousins was never able to live up to the high expectations the Vikings had for him when he joined the team in 2018.<\/p>\n Both parties failed by going their separate ways<\/a> after the 2017 season, and instead, it just created one of the most talked-about what-if scenarios in Minnesota’s history about whether the team would have been better off sticking with Keenum for another year or two instead of signing Cousins.<\/p>\n This article is part of a TVA series about one-and-done starting quarterbacks throughout Vikings history. Check out all the former Minnesota quarterbacks known as the 1-Year Rentals here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\"){kind=icon}
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