Between potshots, a few of you made some good points while discussing Tuesday’s post on Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb's potentially circuitous future route to Minnesota. They’re worth sharing with the group at large.

To review, here was my suggestion: The Vikings count on Brett Favre as their quarterback in 2010 as McNabb either is traded or remains with the Eagles. When McNabb’s contract expires after the season, he could then sign with the Vikings -- provided no one has used the franchise tag on him.

That plan could get scuttled, Outcold312 wrote, if the Vikings advance to the NFC Championship Game and are once again a “final eight” team. Here was the crux of that argument:

[T]hat would mean the Vikings could only sign a free agent if they lose one of their own. Also, they can only pay the new free agent as much as what was paid to the player they lost. Which would not be likely to happen considering the QB is the highest paid position. Perhaps I am wrong on this, and I really hope that I am.

TC Stunner came back with a response I mostly agree with:

Good point, but the rules of this year won’t apply to next year. There are only two possibilities for next year. Either they come to an agreement on a new CBA, or there will be no football next year. They already said, they are not going to do an uncapped year again. So, if there's football next year, the Vikes could sign McNabb without any restrictions.

This is just a guess, but is seems unlikely we’ll have the same set of free-agent rules during the next NFL offseason. If there is no new collective bargaining agreement by March, owners seem set to lock out players. It’s difficult to imagine a new CBA including uncapped provisions and thus necessitating a final eight rule. Stranger things have happened, but of all the obstacles in a future McNabb-Vikings union, I don’t see the this one as a major factor.