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It’s a matter of days — and for four teams, hours — before the NFL officially begins another season. So, we dream. How big we dream depends on the market you occupy, of course. So, in Minnesota, those dreams inevitably fall somewhere between tempered optimism and delusion. One of these days, delusion will be correct. Our Vikings guy — the definition of a sober and neutral NFL observer — took a shot at predicting the outcome of each of the Vikings’ regular-season games on Monday and saw a playoff appearance in their future. After a 9-8 season played mostly without a quarterback, the Vikings guy’s take reads as reasonable because, in March, the Vikings signed a proven veteran and wildly talented signal-caller in Kyler Murray, who just turned 29 and has more than 20,000 yards and 121 touchdowns passing under his belt. Agile and strong-armed, with one of the NFL’s best set of receivers to throw to, Murray should certainly make the offense better. Right now, though, he’s like an unwrapped Christmas present. Unless you’re one of the diehards who attended some training camp practices, your only look at him was one drive in the Vikings’ exhibition opener. It ended in a field goal. But if we can throw away the numbers and common sense for a moment, there is another, dumber reason to feel good about the Vikings’ 2026 season: The Vikings have done well with quarterbacks known primarily for not being Vikings quarterbacks — veteran guys starting a second act. With the exception of homegrown Daunte Culpepper in 2001 — and we’ll all be forgiven for forgetting that one — three of the last four quarterbacks to lead the Vikings to an NFL championship game were Randall Cunningham (still known primarily as an Eagle), Brett Favre (overwhelmingly known as a Packer and scumbag) and Case Keenum, who will be remembered in Minnesota as the man who heaved the Minneapolis Miracle pass but played only one season here. Cunningham, Favre and Keenum all played under a different head coach and offensive coordinator. There is one major exception to this run, you’re saying to yourself right now, and you are correct. Almost as soon as the final gun sounded on the Vikings’ 38-7 loss in the conference championship at Philadelphia in 2018, the experts — cough, cough — began beating the drum for Kirk Cousins. They got him. Keenum moved on to less success elsewhere, and the Vikings signed Cousins to what was the most lucrative guaranteed contract in NFL history. He started six seasons for Minnesota, helped get Mike Zimmer fired, and won one playoff game. So, surprise, this stupid premise is not airtight. But consider, the Vikings signed Sam Darnold to a one-year deal for 2025 and he won 14 games. He wasn’t good in his last two — a loss at playoff-bound Detroit and to the Rams in the first round of the postseason — but he left for Seattle after the season and won the Super Bowl in Seattle. That happened because the Vikings were convinced J.J. McCarthy was their franchise quarterback. They didn’t make that mistake twice. Some of us suggested the Vikings should have signed Aaron Rodgers as a stopgap last fall. Rodgers hasn’t been great in Pittsburgh, and might still be more trouble than he’s worth, but it’s safe to say he would have been better than McCarthy, who has either been ineffective or injured for what is trending toward a a brief NFL career. But we digress. Murray is here with a chance to step into the shoes of Cunningham, Favre and Keenum — and perhaps do them one better. That’s obviously the goal, and it does happen. Heck, Rich Gannon and Brad Johnson were Vikings quarterbacks before leading the Raiders and Buccaneers to the same Super Bowl after the 2002 season. Johnson won the game, Gannon was the league’s MVP. They were the right piece at the right time. Maybe Murray is, too. The Vikings’ season won’t start for another five days; now is the time for dreaming, and Minnesota has had some remarkably good seasons with second-act veterans at the wheel. Dream big until you can’t.