General News

An Updated Salary Cap Number

June 23, 2012, by 4 comments

While Percy Harvin continues to, umm, dispel the notion that he gained the title “entitled” while playing under Urban Meyer at Florida by, umm, taking advantage of his opportunity to become a leader on a young and developing team, there is indeed an entire roster of other players to worry about.

I have been saying this ever since it became clear that the front office had no designs on making a big splash in free agency:  Watch for the late-offseason signings.

Teams will begin to cut players, even some good ones, when training camp rolls around and even a few weeks into the regular season.  The Vikings, armed with third priority on the waiver wire, are in good position to snatch some of them up.

But can they afford to?

Maybe.

According to ProFootballTalk, the Vikings have $10.59 million in cap space left this year.  They do still have to sign fourth overall selection Matt Kalil and third rounder Josh Robinson, but even then they should still have some spending cash left over.

If a player ends up on the waiver wire that they covet (and that they can afford) the roster could surely get a last minute boost of talent if they pounce.

The money could also be spent to retain certain valuable players like Harvin should they choose to do so.  Harvin, however, may want to wait until next offseason to go for gold as the team will get an extra $1.6 million in cap space next offseason from the Redskins and Cowboys debacle, the team is set to have about 18 player contracts expire after this season, and will generally be in even better financial standing.

Phil Loadholt could also someone that the team could consider extending now using some of their available cap space.

Good News For Greenway’s Dad

June 20, 2012, by 15 comments

As we previously mentioned, Chad Greenway has had a rough go of it this offseason coping with a hard truth that would not be anywhere close to easy for the toughest of men.

On that front, however, we have some good news to pass along.  Alan Greenway, Chad’s father, is currently at Mayo Clinic (not hospice care) and his leukemia is in remission.

Greenway had previously been excused from the Vikings minicamp, but the linebacker was indeed present given the improved condition of his father.

Greenway admits his father is on his mind constantly, but that going to practice with his teammates can provide some solace, too.

“Yeah, every day and every minute you’re thinking about it,” Greenway recently said, “but at the same point you have to go to work, and it is a reprieve to be at work, and be around my friends and do something that I love.”

We, as Vikings fans, have high hopes for Chad Greenway in 2012.  However, the biggest wish of all is for his father to continue to improve health-wise and that the Greenway family has a fantastic year in general.

Loadholt Searching For Consistency

June 20, 2012, by 5 comments

As Vikings minicamp gets underway, the team’s offensive line is expected to have a new look and improved production.

One position that is not expected to see turnover at the starting spot is right tackle, manned by Phil Loadholt who is in a contract year.  Leslie Frazier complimented Loadholts pass and run blocking abilities, but said that he needed to be more consistent.

Loadholt didn’t seem to mind Frazier’s public assessment and admitted that Frazier was exactly right.

“He hit it right on the head,” Loadholt said. “It’s something I am going to work on. In this league, anytime you do anything wrong with technique you can look bad. So I will continue to work on my technique and get all those things right.”

If Matt Kalil can improve the left tackle position and Loadholt does indeed progress his play, Christian Ponder and company could indeed be in for a fun season.

If not, well…

… It is June, I don’t want to think about that.

Jared Allen Plots Another Run At Sack Record

June 20, 2012, by 3 comments

Jared Allen, as per usual, stayed away from the organized team activities earlier this offseason.  He did, however, show up for the mandatory minicamp that got underway on Tuesday.

Now that he is back and talking to reporters, it is clear that Allen still has the taste of “sack record” in his mouth and is hungry to give it another shot.

“Absolutely (it’s a goal),” said Allen on Tuesday.  “Before you get that close, you’re not really sure if it’s attainable. You always think it is because you always think, ‘If someone did it, I can do it.’ But being right there and actually leaving some stuff on the field … they took the one away in Green Bay and made it a team sack and there were a couple in my arms I didn’t get and there were the ones where I was that close. At the end of the year, I was kind of bummed out. Now I’m 23 away versus one away. But when you start working out again, it’s motivation. It’s, ‘How can I push myself just a little farther?’ I always think it comes down to conditioning. Maybe if I take one more step, or one this, this, that. So you go back and watch film and you try to correct technique and use it as motivation. It’s always a personal goal, and if I’m fortunate enough and blessed enough to break it one day, I’m going to try to break it again. It’s always a personal goal, but personal goals never get in the way of team goals.  Our ultimate goal is to win a (Super Bowl) championship. Otherwise, there’s no point in playing the game.”

Allen spoke to Bob Sansevere about the topic of the sack record in greater detail, and you can read the rest of the transcript by clicking here.

(Almost) Perfect Attendance At Minicamp

June 19, 2012, by 2 comments

We are suddenly being flooded with all sorts of news nuggets flowing from the Vikings mandatory minicamp that got underway on Tuesday morning.

One important fact is largely being overlooked, however.

The Vikings have had near-perfect attendance with Eric Frampton being the only player missing.  Frampton’s absence isn’t thought to be a big deal, however, as it is being attributed to an illness.  He is expected to be present on Wednesday.

The Vikings have a number of young safeties that could surely use the extra attention during Frampton’s absence, but they may also be interested in bringing in even more help at the position.  The team has been rumored recently to have interest in former Colts safety Melvin Bullitt, for instance.

Regardless of future roster moves, however, the fact that the Vikings have great attendance at minicamp is an encouraging sign.

HARVIN: “I’m Not Happy”

June 19, 2012, by 4 comments

The good news:  Percy Harvin has reported to minicamp.

The bad news:  He doesn’t plan on practicing much.

The worse news:  He has hinted that a holdout could be in the near future.

According to multiple reports (transcript here), Harvin is unhappy with a number of different issues and insists that those issues need to be resolved prior to training camp.  He did not go into specifics, but it is understandably assumed by media types that Harvin’s main issue surrounds his contract status.

Harvin is set to make $915,000 this year and $1.55 million in 2013, his final year from the rookie deal he signed.  The money obviously does not match up with his on-field importance, as is often the case in situations where a rookie performs at a high level.

“I’ll just put it this way — it’s a lot of different things that have to be sorted out,” Harvin said. “Just haven’t been real happy lately. So, we’ve got a couple things to work on. I’m here in the classroom, so we’ll go from here.”

Leslie Frazier made some comments that pretty much just sidestepped the issue all together and he just said he was glad to have Harvin at the minicamp, and that he expects all of his players to report to minicamp.

I can understand the motivation for Harvin, who has had his fair share of health problems, to want to cash in on his success thus far in the NFL.  I can also see why the front office might be hesitant to invest a ton of money into an injury-prone receiver, especially when they can retain his rights for another two years or possibly even three.

Assuming that the issues really are contract related (key word: assuming), then I don’t really see how Harvin will win this battle if he decides to take the holdout route.  The Vikings are likely not going to have many qualms about getting their young receivers extra reps during practice periods (remember, Jarius Wright is thought to be capable of playing a similar role as Harvin), and Harvin will almost certainly have to report if the Vikings start docking his pay in the event of a lengthy holdout.

I see this less as something that is an issue right now and more of a preview of things to come… next offseason.

But, who knows, maybe this turns really ugly really fast.

I hope not.

Links Of The Week: OTAs End

June 17, 2012, by 2 comments

Mike Wobschall from Vikings.com makes some observations from OTA #7. In one note, “Wobby” describes plays where both Christian Ponder and Joe Webb are scrambling to the right. Don’t like to hear that our QBs are still fleeing from pressure but glad that they’re able to if their hand is forced. There are also some great notes for OTAs #4-6.

Jared Allen is awesome. Watch Allen’s latest charitable event “Night Ops Golf” here on Youtube.

Stop the press. Everyone’s favorite hip-hop entrepreneur Bryant McKinnie showed up to camp phat. (See what I did there?) Will he even make the Raven’s roster this year?

I missed this one over the course of the week. Apparently, NFL Comissioner, Roger Goodell, sent out a memo to all teams addressing recent DUIs and reminding team players and personnel to “be responsible.”

The folks over at Pro Football Focus have been looking at each NFL team and determining that team’s “Secret Superstar.” Who was their selection for the Vikings? Go check it out. Who should we look out for on the Packers, Bears and Lions according to PFT? Linebacker D.J. Smith, cornerback Tim Jennings and defensive end Willie Young, respectively.

I really can’t stand this idea that the NFL is strictly a passing game and running the ball has lost its importance in the NFL. Adam and I will have to take the topic up in our next “Coin Toss.” Nevertheless, National Football Post has a good article up discussing the topic, using the Vikings lack of success even with Adrian Peterson as a prime example.

Although ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski expects Christian Ponder to “improve significantly this season” he still has Ponder ranked 28th out of 30 on his “Top QBs” list. Kevin Seifert from ESPN’s NFL North blog further inspects Jaworski’s analysis.

Vikings.com has some great OTA videos. Definitely check those out.

Our buddy Gil over at The Vikings Den landed a writing gig with Rant Sports. He’ll continue writing for TVD though and we wish him the best of luck. In this particular post, TVD looks at if the Vikings missed out by not signing linebacker Rocky McIntosh.

While the Vikings run play-action more than almost every team in the NFL, it turns out they’re not very good at it. (This is always something that has bothered me. With such an incredible running back, you think our play-action would be much more effective. I absolutely hate it when a quarterback doesn’t know how to sell the play-action. I think a good “just kidding” hand-off can really screw up a defense. Hopefully this is something Vikings QB Christian Ponder has been working on this offseason. Okay, rant over.)

Today is Father’s Day. And despite the fact that Chad Greenway’s father was recently diagnosed with leukemia and is now receiving hospice care, the Vikings linebacker still decided to host a Father’s Day fundraising 5k run. Please keep Chad and the Greenway family in your thoughts through these trying times for them.