It looks like a new quarterback is about to enter the Vikings’ quarterback mix. Should Minnesota be unable to re-sign free agent Case Keenum, it is expected to consider AJ McCarron.

McCarron, 27, on Thursday was ruled an unrestricted free agent after winning a grievance against the Cincinnati Bengals, for whom he was primarily a backup to Andy Dalton.

McCarron, the former Alabama star, will be considered, more seriously, by several other teams besides the Vikings, including Cleveland, Arizona, Denver and the New York Jets. His price tag is expected to be in the $10 million per year range.

If the Vikings were to sign McCarron, it would be for him to compete for the starting job, not as a backup.

Pssst: It’s looking more and more like there’s some sensitive legal stuff going on between the Vikings and defensive lineman Sharrif Floyd, who the team decided not to release even though he was eligible to be cut Monday.

Floyd, who hasn’t played since knee surgery nearly two seasons ago, and his $6.7 million contract this year are adversely affecting the Vikings’ salary cap, which currently is $49 million. Floyd’s people aren’t talking, and the Vikings plead ignorance.

Among John DeFilippo fans confident that he’ll succeed as the Vikings new offensive coordinator is Eric Musselman, the fiery former Timberwolves assistant who this season has coached Nevada-Reno to a 22-5 record and No. 24 national men’s basketball ranking.

Musselman, a two-time head NBA coach, and DeFilippo, the former QB coach of Super Bowl champion Philadelphia, are good friends.

“John loves talking cross philosophies of football and basketball,” Musselman said. “He loves talking leadership, and he’s a great communicator. He really studies the game and is very organized in game preparation. And he’s a great guy.”

Musselman, by the way, the son of former Gophers-Timberwolves coach Bill Musselman, is getting mentioned for the Mississippi coaching job.

Based on DeFilippo’s comments that he prefers an athletic quarterback with ability to extend plays, Keenum still seems to be the favorite heading into next season.

The Vikings’ offensive line last season was credited with being improved, but part of that was because the line had a mobile Keenum.

The Vikings waited specifically for DeFilippo, 39, and he accepted the job almost immediately. It’s a good bet that his salary with the Vikings will nearly triple to about $2 million for each of the two years of his deal.

By the way, the Vikings job for DeFilippo is perceived as a springboard for a head coaching job.

Don’t be surprised if the Vikings hire former Oakland Raiders offensive coordinator Todd Downing from Eden Prairie as a passing game specialist.

It’s intriguing that the Vikings blocked QB coach Kevin Stefanski from joining Pat Shurmur with the Giants. That would seem to indicate the Vikings want to stay with one of their three QBs — Keenum, Teddy Bridgewater or Sam Bradford.

It looks like Minnesota’s QB choice will come down to dollars — Keenum would be cheaper than other free agents Kirk Cousins and Drew Brees.

The Vikings still have a handful of core players to extend, including stars Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, Danielle Hunter and Stefon Diggs, all of whom are under contract for 2018. The extensions are expected to occur in July just before training camp.

It would be out of character for the Vikings to get in bidding competition for Cousins. Cleveland is $100 million under the salary cap and will be among a half-dozen teams seeking Cousins, and despite his rhetoric, Cousins probably will end up going to the team offering the most money. And the Vikings can’t give him the most money. It also looks now like the Jets will bid big for Cousins, even more than Denver. Related Articles Vikings elevate CB Mark Fields from practice squad for Sunday’s game

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There’s a chance now that Bridgewater could return to the Vikings with an incentive-based deal as backup to Keenum. But if Bridgewater can get more money elsewhere, he’ll be expected to leave.

If Bridgewater leaves, the Vikings would have to sign a backup to Keenum, especially considering what happened to each of their starters (disabling knee injuries) the past two years.

Lance Lynn, via analytics and economics, still looks like the best free agent starting pitcher choice the Twins could make.

The Twins, who won 85 games last season, have an over-under projection of 82½ wins this season, according to Bovada-Las Vegas.

The number for the Tigers, under first-year manager Ron Gardenhire, the ex-Twins manager, is 68½, third-worst in the major leagues ahead of only the White Sox (68) and Marlins (64½).

Nate Mason has the best chance among Gophers to be invited to the 64-player NBA scouting combine in Portsmouth, Va., in April. Departed Reggie Lynch has virtually no chance.

For the first time in five years, no players from the Gophers football team are among the 326 who have been invited to the NFL combine Feb. 27-March 5 in Indianapolis.

The Twins have just two players — Brian Dozier (No. 36) and Byron Buxton (No. 68) — and no pitchers among baseball’s top 100 players, according to MLB Network.

Contrary to rumors elsewhere, it’s unlikely Cretin-Derham Hall grad Ryan McDonagh, the highly respected captain of the New York Rangers, is headed to the Boston Bruins, who already have seven defensemen. Meanwhile, the Wild don’t have nearly enough to offer the Rangers to bring McDonagh home to St. Paul.

Look for former Heisman Trophy winner and St. Paul native Chris Weinke this week to join the Tennessee Vols are running backs coach.

Strongly favored for the Mr. Hockey Minnesota Award is Edina forward Sammy Walker, who has committed to the Gophers.

Among those honoring Flip Saunders on Thursday night at Target Center when the Timberwolves defeated the Lakers were the American Marshals, the ebullient cheer group with which the ex-Timberwolves coach used to travel to support the U.S. Ryder Cup team wherever it competed.

The last time the Gophers baseball team played the Twins in Fort Myers, Fla., the Twins won 3-1. The teams play each other again Thursday in Fort Myers. Gophers coach John Anderson and Twins manager Paul Molitor were teammates with the Gophers nearly 40 years ago and are close friends.

The Twins beat the Gophers 3-1 two years ago. Anderson is looking forward to exchanging lineup cards at home plate with Molitor.

“You never know if you’ll get to do it again,” Anderson said. “It’s a chance for us to celebrate that relationship.”

When they swap lineup cards Thursday, Anderson said he’ll tell Molitor to “take it easy on us. In 2016, he told me, ‘You better not beat us. This is my first game — I’ll probably get fired.’ ”

Molitor is the reigning American League manager of the year.

A capacity crowd turned out for the Catholic Athletic Association hall of fame induction of John Tauer and son Johnny Tauer at Mendakota Country Club last week, honoring them for their long basketball coaching success.

Leo Lewis Jr., who was raised in St. Paul and went on to stardom at Marshall High, Lincoln University (Mo.) and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and is the late father of former Viking Leo Lewis III, was inducted into the 2018 Black College Football Hall of Fame last week.

That’s Katie Uhlaender, daughter of spirited former Twins center fielder Ted Uhlaender, competing in skeleton in her fourth Olympics in South Korea.

Outfielder Ryan LaMarre, who is a non-roster invitee to Twins major league spring training, is married to former Edina and Michigan tennis star Whitney Taney.

Caleb Truax, the St. Michael, Minn., super-middleweight who upset England’s James DeGale to win the International Boxing Federation’s world championship in December, last week began training in earnest for what might be a rematch, perhaps in Las Vegas. The Twin Cities were under consideration but now seem an unlikely site.

“I wish they could get it done here,” Truax said of Minnesota.

Truax, 34, earned $60,000 for his split decision over DeGale, 31. If they meet again in April, his purse could be worth at least $500,000.

“The target’s on your back now instead of you gunning for somebody else,” he said. “Everybody’s going to bring their best and try to take the title from you, especially if it’s a rematch against this (DeGale) — he’s going to want to regain his title.”

That was ex-Viking Matt Birk, who works for the NFL, watching the Super Bowl in Commissioner Roger Goodell’s private box at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Don’t print that

The Vikings can either put the franchise tag or transition tag on QB Case Keenum. If they franchise him, it’ll cost them about $23.5 million for the coming season (Keenum was paid $2 million last season).

Transitioning Keenum would cost about $21.3. The transition tag for the Vikings is risky because another team could still sign Keenum and the Vikings would have seven days to match the offer or lose him.

It seems the smart move for the Vikings would be to put either tag on Keenum because they don’t have a better option they can afford.

The deadline for the Vikings to either franchise or transition Keenum is just 2½ weeks away (March 6), which is just eight days before free agency begins (March 14). If the Vikings decide not to use either tag on Keenum, they could be going into free agency blind because theoretically they could lose everybody they want, including Keenum.

So by March 6, it would be expected that the Vikings would have either Keenum with a tag, or Teddy Bridgewater or Sam Bradford signed to a deal, depending on who they decide they want. It’s not out of the question that medical exams could show the knee injuries to Bridgewater or Bradford wouldn’t be a problem going forward, but that still seems unlikely.

If the Vikings wanted, they could sign Keenum to a contract extension now. But it’s clear they’re biding time while considering options.

By the way, if the Vikings don’t put either tag on Keenum by March 6, he still could be signed after that. But if you’re Keenum, you probably would wait because then he would have other bidders that could drive up the price.

If for some bizarre reason the Saints can’t agree to a new QB deal with Drew Brees, Vikings fans can begin to get excited.

Drees, a future hall of famer, might be the one guy for short term that the Vikings would be willing to bust their budget on. Kirk Cousins is very good, and durable, but not great. Drees is a future hall of famer.

Drees has it in his contract that the Saints cannot use the franchise or transition tags on him.

It’s becoming clear that the Timberwolves should have included Andrew Wiggins instead of Zach LaVine in their Jimmy Butler trade with the Bulls last June.

The energetic LaVine, 22, playing for $3.2 million this season, is averaging 16.9 points and 4.5 rebounds in 14 games since his return from ACL surgery. The seemingly uninterested Wiggins, 22, with a $147.9 million, five-year contract that kicks in next season, is playing for $7.6 million this season and averaging 17.5 points and 4.1 rebounds.

But Wiggins’ annual salaries beginning next season are $25.3 million, $27 million, $29 million, $31 million and $33 million. He can become an unrestricted free agent after the 2022-23 season.

Word is Justin Timberlake didn’t get paid for his Super Bowl halftime show in Minneapolis, although he received expenses and production costs from the NFL.

The halftime show has become so coveted that the league no longer needs to pay performers, who usually receive big bumps in sales immediately after a show. Timberlake announced more dates to his concert tour the day after the Super Bowl that includes a stop at the Xcel Energy Center on Sept. 28, then added another show for St. Paul on the next day.

One local broker stood in the stadium concourse after the Super Bowl in Minneapolis and bought 45 used tickets for about $2,500 from fans leaving the game. He paid $50 for most and $100 for some. He then sold a mint condition suite ticket, which is rare because it has a different color, to a collector for $500. Other tickets he bought he resold for anywhere from $100 to $300 apiece.

It’s apparent that former Chicago Bear Brian Urlacher and former Baltimore Raven Ray Lewis and their fans were enough to overcome former Viking Randy Moss and his fans in naming the Bears against the Ravens in the Pro Football Hall of Fame game on August 2 in Canton, Ohio. The hall usually picks teams for its annual game of newly elected hall of famers that have the greatest potential for fans traveling to Canton for the game.

Todd Hoffner’s new Minnesota State Mankato five-year football coaching contract includes annual base pay of $92,905 and supplemental pay of $42,962 for a total $135,867.

After being named MVP in the NHL All-Star Game, Burnsville’s Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks has become the favorite to win the Calder Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year. No Minnesotan has won the Calder Trophy since Frank Brimsek in 1939.

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That was the Twins’ Joe Mauer, as a guest of Ice Palace executive director Joe Gallagher a day before heading to spring training, visiting the St. Paul edifice and locating “Wally the Walleye” encased in a block of ice.

The Twins will wait until after next season until they consider a new contract for Mauer, who turns 35 in April and has only the 2018 season remaining on his $184 million, eight-year deal.

Overheard

International Boxing Federation world champion Caleb Truax, 34, of St. Michael, Minn., on his future in the sport: “As long as I can be successful and make some money and provide for the family. But I’m getting old, man, in boxing terms. I don’t want to be boxing too much longer.”