Monthly archive: May, 2012

Don’t Expect Rookie Contracts This Week

May 16, 2012, by No comments yet

This is the time of year where Vikings fans get annoyed as they see other teams get their rookies under contract while nothing louder than a cricket is coming out of Winter Park on this front.

According to CBS Sports, we will continue to wait until at least next week before any rookie contracts are finalized according to a team source.

It is not exactly clear why the Vikings are always seemingly behind other teams in regards to signing their rookies, but the truth is that it isn’t that big of a deal.  The team will almost certainly have all of their rookies under contract soon enough and they have great attendance at their offseason workouts.

Vikings Make A Pair Of Moves

May 16, 2012, by 1 comment

Rick Spielman continues to tool around with the bottom of his roster, hoping the depth moves will provide adequate competition in training camp.

On Tuesday, the team signed defensive end Nick Reed (24 years old) is 6’ 1” and 248 pounds.  He played in 16 games as a rookie in 2009 with the Seahawks where he totaled 17 tackles, a sack, two batted passes, and two fumble recoveries (one of which he returned for a touchdown).

Reed was out of the game in 2010 but returned last season and spent time with the Bears and the Bucs, having a minimal impact.  The Oregon product seems like a guy capable of turning some heads in camp, as he has been productive in the past, and fits the mold of the type of player Spielman is seeking out these days.

Harvard offensive tackle Kevin Murphy (22 years old) stands at a massive 6’ 7” and 295 pounds.  The 49ers picked him up as an undrafted free agent in April but they waived him earlier this week, and the Vikings claimed him off of waivers.

Murphy is likely not the last time the Vikings utilize the waiver system in an attempt to upgrade their roster.  Remember, they get the third priority because of their 3-13 record in 2011, so only the Colts and the Rams will have a higher priority.

The Vikings waived offensive lineman Jose Valdez and another yet-to-be-named player to keep their roster size at 90.  As soon as we know the other player that was waived, we will be sure to pass that along.

[UPDATE:  It turns out that the second player cut was defensive end Kevin Cyrille who signed with the team in April as an undrafted free agent out of Florida Atlantic.]

Vikes Pick Up A CFL First Rounder

May 14, 2012, by 3 comments

The CFL Draft doesn’t generate a ton of buzz for those of us that prefer real football the NFL, but just like in any sport, teams make significant investments into their roster during the Draft and hope to see them pay off.

The Toronto Argonauts made quite the investment when they traded their second and fifth round picks with Saskatchewan to move up into the first round and grab Tulsa guard Tyler Holmes.  Holmes never played in the CFL, however, as he returned to Tulsa for his senior season.

He may never play in Canada.

On Monday, the Vikings waived wide receiver Kris Adams to make room for Holmes who had been there on a tryout basis. 

Holmes has nice size at 6’ 5” and 308 pounds and was named a Conference USA honorable mention last season.  He figures to be best suited for zone blocking assignments and questions about his strength led to him being undrafted.

He was a starter in all four seasons at Tulsa.

Governor Makes Stadium Bill Official

May 14, 2012, by 5 comments

While there were both cheers and jeers at the State Capitol today, Governor Mark Dayton made good on his promise to sign the Vikings stadium bill into law.

The stadium fight has gone on for over a decade, starting long before Zygi Wilf and family even owned the team, but it finally appears to be coming to a close.

The final step is for the Minneapolis City Council to vote on the bill, which is not expected to be a problem.

Stadium Bill To Take Final State-Level Step Today

May 14, 2012, by 11 comments

While the “Mission Accomplished” banner is clearly strung across the deck of the aircraft carrier, and Minnesotan’s are rightfully celebrating what appears to be a guaranteed future of their pro football team within the State, it is not yet officially official.

On Monday, however, the State will make their commitment to the new stadium official when Governor Mark Dayton signs the recently-passed bill into law.

The bill will be signed at a ceremony within the State Capitol at noon on Monday.

In order for this thing to be a 100% done deal, however, the Minneapolis City Council must vote in favor of the bill within 30 days of the Governor signing the bill.  Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak predicts that the vote will take place on May 25th.

That means there is a nearly two week window for something absolutely, positively horrible to happen that throws a wrench into the whole thing.  Something like that would be more disheartening to Vikings fans than a Cowboys hail mary, a missed Gary Anderson field goal, and a 12-men in the huddle call all wrapped into one.

Now, I’m not trying to be an alarmist here or anything, as plenty of people who know far more than myself about this situation consider this a done deal.  However, weirder things have indeed happened.

The Council needs seven “yes” votes to put the bow on this bill once and for all, and Mayor Rybak has received seven letters of support for the original version of the bill from Council members.  The thing is, though, this isn’t the same bill they agreed to as it has been changed around by the House and the Senate.

At least one Minneapolis Council member that put forward a letter is reserving the right to change his mind should he see something in the bill that he doesn’t agree with.

“Right now I am reviewing every line of it, and obviously I have to determine if what’s in there, line-by-line, is consistent with some of the goals and concerns I had,” said Council member Kevin Reich. “So it’s undetermined at this time. It’s under review.”

In his comments, it sounds like Reich will be voting “yes” once again and that there is little to worry about.

As I have said in the comments section, however, there are significant events that could take place between now and May 25th that could make members reconsider their commitment to a professional sports venue.

Welcome To The Big Show: Jarius Wright

May 12, 2012, by 1 comment

Today we present to you part five of our ten part series called “Welcome to the Big Show” where we dive deep into the history, stats, outlook etc… for each of the Vikings ten Draft selections of 2012. We got a little mixed up last week and accidentally skipped Jarius Wright so we are coming back to him today. If you’ve missed any of the previous entries, here are links to the first four: Matt Kalil, Harrison Smith, Josh Robinson and Rhett Ellison.

Welcome To The Big Show: Jarius Wright

Player Info

Name: Jarius Wright
Position: WR
College: Arkansas

Personal History

Jarius Wright was born to Jeanette Hooper and Joe Wright on November 25th, 1989 in Warren, Arkansas.

Wright had an impressive high school career at Warren High School where he was a teammate with the other Vikings wide receiver selection in the fourth round, Greg Childs. The long-lasting relationship between Wright and Childs is a very interesting (incredible) one and should definitely be highlighted. Wright was ranked as the 30th best player in the nation at his position as a high school prospect in 2007.  He was targeted by multiple colleges (including Minnesota) but ultimately decided to stick with his friend, Childs, at Arkansas as a Razorback.

At Arkansas, Wright was involved in what was recognized as one of the most explosive offenses in college football. He went on to break school season-records with 66 receptions, 1,117 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2011. At Arkansas, Wright majored in Sociology.

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Links Of The Weekend: Stadium Euphoria

May 12, 2012, by 2 comments

Well, we all know what topic has dominated Vikings news this week, and we’ll get back to assessing the ongoing roster transformation soon, but in the meantime let’s highlight some of best articles available right now.  Most are stadium related, but I tried to find a good mix.