Minnesota Vikings QB Moves: Was It a Conspiracy from the Start?

We all know that the NFL is a business and the first priority for owners is to make money, but did that have anything to do with the Vikings' singing of Donovan McNabb?

Fans knew this could have been a rough year for the Vikings since not much had changed from 2010. Then again, not a lot has changed from the 2009 Vikings either, and they went to the NFC Championship game.

When Minnesota drafted Christian Ponder in the first round of the NFL Draft, the thought was the Vikings were going to make the switch to a fresh rookie. That was proven wrong when the Vikings traded for Donovan McNabb.

When the higher-ups in the organization looked over the roster, they may have thought that this wasn't going to be a very successful year for the team without a proven QB—so they decided to go ahead and acquire McNabb. Then, when McNabb faltered, Christian Ponder was inserted into the lineup to regain fan interest and make sure people keep filling in the seats at the Metrodome.

This regaining of the Minnesota sports highlight happened in 2010 as well. When the Vikings got off to a rough start last year with Sidney Rice on the sideline, the Vikings traded for New England Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss. We know how this experiment ended up.

It's quite the coincidence, however, that the Vikings acquired Moss on the same day as the Twins' first playoff game at Target Field last year—effectively stealing the Minnesota sports spotlight from the Twins.

There is no evidence that any of these moves were planned by the Wilf's or anyone associated with the Vikings. If you looked at this team without being emotionally connected, you could have probably seen that this year was going to be a disaster. I didn't look at the Vikings that way. I trusted the organization's decision that Donovan McNabb was the answer. He obviously wasn't.

Now its Christian Ponder time and everyone is still locked in on the 1-5 Vikings. The move secures a couple more sellouts and a lot more Ponder jersey sales. It’s the right move for the team on the field, but was this move already planned out by the team in the owner’s box a lot earlier on?