EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. Austin Czarnik Jersey . - New Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer has taken a methodical approach to evaluating the teams muddled quarterback situation, refusing to make any concrete statements about the position until he had time to do his homework and come to a decision. With free agency less than a week away, the coach appears to have come to at least one conclusion: Zimmer wants Matt Cassel to return to Minnesota next season, if the free agent-to-be decides he wants to be with the Vikings. "I would love to have Matt Cassel back if Matt Cassel wants to be back," Zimmer said Thursday. "I dont know if that will happen or wont happen. But were going to find a quarterback somewhere. And if its not Matt Cassel, then well find someone else. "I want guys who want to be here. I want guys that want to be part of the franchise, be part of the organization, be part of the team. And if Matt wants to come back, Im sure that well get it worked out." Zimmer said he has had conversations with Cassel, who went 3-3 in his six starts last season and was on the field at the end of the game for all five Vikings victories, to that effect. Cassel opted out of his contract last month and Zimmer said he expected Cassel to explore free agency before the quarterback makes a decision. Free agents can sign with new teams starting on Tuesday. "Hes got a bunch of pretty girls looking at him right now," Zimmer said, referring to teams that are expected to court Cassel in free agency. "And he wants to explore and see whats best for him. I dont blame any of these guys. In free agency, I think thats why they have the rules is that they get a chance to go see what their markets worth." Last year Cassel split the duties with Christian Ponder for most of the season, with Josh Freeman also getting one start. Cassel completed 60.2 per cent of his passes for 1,807 yards with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. "I think the team rallied around him a lot but I think the team has a lot of confidence in him," Zimmer said. "Other than playing against him I dont that much about him yet other than the conversation that we had on the phone." The Vikings have the eighth overall pick in the upcoming draft and are expected to look at drafting a quarterback. But with star running back Adrian Peterson approaching 30 years old, bringing in a veteran quarterback to serve as a bridge until that young player is ready is an avenue the team will consider. One player Peterson wants the Vikings to pursue is Michael Vick, who likely will be looking for a starting job after losing his in Philadelphia to Nick Foles. Peterson tweeted on Thursday that Vick "would (instantly) make the Vikings a playoff team!" "I think he has his opinions," Zimmer said about Peterson. "I like Adrian a lot from the little time that Ive talked to him. I know that hes a great running back. I dont know anything else." Zimmer said he would also like to have receiver Jerome Simpson and longtime defensive stars Jared Allen and Kevin Williams back as well, if all three decide they want to play for the Vikings and accept what could be different roles than the ones they had under the previous regime. Allen and Williams likely would have to take significant paycuts to return. "I think it would be great for him to finish here," Zimmer said of Allen, "but I do understand the business part of all this stuff and if it doesnt work out, it doesnt work out." In general, Zimmer said the Vikings have "a lot of holes to fill" on both sides of the ball as free agency approaches. But the coach expected the team to take a pragmatic approach, focusing more on the draft than making a big splash by signing high-priced veterans. "I think if we go out and spend a whole bunch of money now, wed be upset two years from now because some of them didnt work out," Zimmer said. "So were going to be real diligent in how we approach this and making sure that not only is it best for next year, but best for the long run too." NOTES: The Vikings released DT LeTroy Guion and WR Greg Childs. Guion started 31 games in six seasons with the Vikings, but the team saved $4 million by cutting him. Childs was a fourth-round draft choice in 2012, but never played in a game after tearing the patellar tendons in both knees in training camp during his rookie year. ___ AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL Travis Hamonic Jersey . -- Canadian ski cross star Marielle Thompson accomplished two goals in one race Saturday. Rasmus Andersson Jersey . -- David Freese is starting to pick up his run production, which is something the Los Angeles Angels have been waiting half a season to see. http://www.officialflamesfanstore.com/authentic-dalton-prout-flames-jersey/ .The McLaren MP4-30 was launched on Thursday, with chief executive Ron Dennis saying it marks the start of a lengthy journey back to winning grands prix and eventually world championships.McLaren, which hasnt won a grand prix since 2012, will be using Honda engines for the first time since 1992, and has signed two-time world champion Fernando Alonso to partner Jenson Button for the upcoming season.PRETORIA, South Africa -- The judge in Oscar Pistorius trial ruled out a murder conviction for the double-amputee Olympian Thursday in the shooting death of his girlfriend but said he was negligent, raising the possibility hell be convicted of culpable homicide. The verdict in the case that has riveted much of South Africa and the world is expected on Friday when Judge Thokozile Masipa reconvenes the judgment phase, climaxing the trial that began in March. If Pistorius is acquitted of murder, he could still be sent to jail for a maximum of 15 years if convicted of culpable homicide, which is the killing of someone through reckless or negligent behaviour, although five years in prison is a guideline when a firearm is used. The red-robed Masipa, sitting in the dais and looking down at Pistorius and the packed courtroom, said she felt Pistorius acted negligently when he fired four times through a toilet door in his home in the pre-dawn hours of Valentines Day last year. In a moment of high-drama, Masipa then stopped reading out her verdict in the six-month-long trial and adjourned until Friday. Because there is no trial by jury in South Africa, Masipa is expected to explain exactly why she and her two legal aides came to the decision they have before the judge issues the verdict. "I am of the view that the accused acted too hastily and with excessive force," Masipa said of Pistorius actions on the fatal night. She said the prosecution had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Pistorius committed premeditated murder. She also ruled out a lesser murder charge. As she spoke, Pistorius began sobbing quietly on the wooden bench, his shoulders shaking. Murder is an illegal, intentional killing. A premeditated, or planned, murder would carry a heavier sentence in the event of a conviction. The world-famous athlete has acknowledged firing the shots through the toilet door in his home, hitting Steenkamp in the head, arm and hip area with hollow-point bullets from his 9 mm pistol. He said he mistook her for an intruder and denied murder, but the judge said Pistorius still could have taken other action, like calling the police or security at his housing estate. "Did the accused fail to take steps he should have taken? Yes," Masipa said. "He failed to take any steps to avoid the death." The prosecution alleged that the athlete intentionally killed his girlfriend, a model and budding reality TV star, after a loud nighttime argument heard by neighbourrs. Lanny McDonald Jersey. Masipa said there were "just not enough facts" to support the finding of premeditated murder or the lesser murder without pre-planning. "The accused cannot be found guilty of murder," the judge said. At the start of the judgment hearing, Masipa told Pistorius, 27, that he should remain seated on the bench while she read her findings out and until she asked him to stand for the verdict. In her hours-long assessment of witness evidence, she called Pistorius a "very poor witness" who had lost his composure on the stand and was at times "evasive." But Masipa emphasized that did not mean he was guilty of murder. The 66-year-old judge also cast doubt on witness accounts of hearing a womans screams, a key part of the prosecutions case. The defence had argued that it was Pistorius who was screaming in a high-pitched voice after discovering he had fatally shot Steenkamp. Masipa also cited testimony of an acoustics expert called by the defence, saying it cast "serious doubt" on whether witnesses who were hundreds of meters (yards) away in their homes -- as some state witnesses were -- could have differentiated between the screams of a man or a woman. At one point, Masipa said: "I continue to explain why most witnesses got their facts wrong." Masipa also said she was disregarding text messages between Steenkamp and Pistorius that had been entered as evidence. Prosecutors had submitted text messages that showed tension between them while the defence submitted messages that indicated mutual affection. That evidence, the judge said, doesnt prove anything. "Normal relationships are dynamic and unpredictable most of the time, while human beings are fickle," she said. Pistorius faced 25 years to life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder. He also faced a minimum of 15 years in jail if found guilty of murder without pre-planning. Pistorius is charged with murder, two counts of unlawfully firing a gun in a public place in unrelated incidents and one count of illegal possession of ammunition. Before Thursdays session began, Pistorius hugged his brother Carl, who was seated in a wheelchair because of leg injuries suffered in a recent car crash. The parents of Steenkamp were also in the packed gallery. Other members of Pistorius family, including his father Henke, sat behind him. If Pistorius is convicted on any charge, the case will be postponed until a later sentencing hearing. 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