Opinion

Sanford Coming Back To Minnesota

March 12, 2013, by 1 comment

I had safety Jamarca Sanford pegged as the Vikings top priority as far as retaining their own pending free agents go, and Sanford recently announced via Twitter that he is “coming back home.”

It isn’t impossible that the Vikings will still look to upgrade the starting safety spot across from Harrison Smith, but Sanford provides them with experience, depth, and special teams value.  Harrison Smith, Jamarca Sanford, and Mistral Raymond are the current safeties atop the depth chart which provides continuity from last season to the upcoming one.

Details are not yet known on the deal, but we’ll let you know as soon as we do.  Fullback Jerome Felton is now the only major free agent of the Vikings that remains to be signed.

Simpson Re-Signing Provides Some Relief

March 12, 2013, by 6 comments

I am sure that Rick Spielman would like to orchestrate an offseason that sees the 31st ranked passing game take great strides forwards.  That is easier said than done, especially when your offseason begins with losing two of your top receivers.

One guy they did retain, however, is Jerome Simpson.  Simpson joined the Vikings on a one year deal last season, after his three game suspension was officially announced by the NFL, with high hopes that he could help ignite some sort of vertical game.  His season was plagued by injury and turned out to be quite disappointing, having never scored a touchdown or even gaining more than 50 yards in any game.

Still, the Vikings apparently see some of that potential there, and are hoping he stays healthy enough to be a legitimate threat in 2013.  They extended him to a one year deal, and the financials aren’t yet known yet, but I am willing to bet that it is equal to, or less than, the $2 million deal he signed last year.

Simpson’s signing was basically a zero risk move that gives the Vikings some flexibility.  He could be better in 2013, having seemed to start developing a chemistry with Christian Ponder towards the end of the year, and will get another chance to stay healthy and put together a full season.

If Spielman manages to fill out the depth chart with high quality playmakers then Simpson, who presents little special teams value, could still be expendable when it comes time to make final cuts.

Winfield’s Release A Result Of Front Office Failures

March 12, 2013, by 11 comments

On the surface, it makes sense for a team that obviously still considers itself to be rebuilding to release a soon-to-be 36 year old cornerback that carried a $7.5 million salary.

When you state it that plainly, it is really hard to argue with the logic, and therefore it shouldn’t be considered the most unreasonable course of action to take.

Still, when the Vikings released Antoine Winfield on Tuesday I couldn’t help but be a little upset at the Vikings organization, even while dismissing the emotional attachment I think most Vikings fans felt for the powerful little cornerback.

In 2009, Winfield agreed to a unique contract with the Vikings that was lauded, by both the team and the player, as a deal that would see him retire as a Viking.  The contract reportedly contained de-escalators (or escalators, depending on how you look at it) that greatly reduced Winfield’s salary in the final years of the deal.  The mechanism was based off of playing time.

The thought was that as Winfield got older the Vikings could relegate him to playing strictly out of the nickel, where he has always been at his best, and elongate his career while also paying him accordingly.

Instead, the Vikings used Winfield’s presence as an excuse to not seriously upgrade the cornerback position and constantly had to rely on Winfield to step into a starting role, seemingly week after week, which is how he triggered the pay raise.  During the time since Winfield signed this contract the most they invested into a cornerback was when they used a second rounder on Chris Cook, a known character risk, who has missed plenty of time with legal issues and injuries.

So, when I heard that Winfield refused to take a pay cut to stay with the Vikings, I was not surprised nor could I blame him.  His 2013 salary was a result of what he had done in the past, it was money he had already earned by being the great player we all know him to be, and this is one of those  rare cases when a player should feel entitled to money has not yet been paid.

Winfield gave us a ton of great memories over the years, including delivering a speech to his teammates last season that was cited as a reason for the defense playing better down the stretch, and he will be greatly missed.  The Vikings front office had an opportunity to improve their secondary and keep Winfield at a reasonable price.

Instead, they still have major question marks at the position, and Winfield had to be cut for cap reasons.

That is one to put in the “fail” column.

Kevin Williams: “We’re Going Backwards At This Point In My Career?”

March 11, 2013, by 3 comments

Kevin Williams is notoriously quiet when it comes to talking with the press or getting overly animated about the football business.

On Monday, however, he couldn’t contain his confusion as to why the Vikings would trade one of their best young playmakers.

You’re like, ‘What’s going on? We’re going backwards at this point in (my) career,’ ” Williams said to the Pioneer Press. “Last year, we counted on a lot of young guys and played well, but to get rid of one of your top offensive players, I don’t even know who we have at receiver. Jarius Wright is the only guy we’ve got. Hopefully we have a plan in place and it works out for us.”

Williams went on to talk about Harvin as a competitive teammate but gave no indication, as seems to be a trend with Vikings players, that he ever crossed any sort of line in the form of a tantrum.

“Nobody had any problems with Percy,” Williams continued.  ”He went about his business, did his work. Sometimes, his passion for what he did on the football field got taken out of context. He was real passionate about what he did. That’s good for ballplayers.”

Williams also said that he has not been approached about a change to his contract status, he is under contract for $7.5 million annually for 2013 and 2014, and could potentially see his long term replacement drafted with the first round pick gained from Seattle in the Harvin trade.  Once that replacement is in hand the Vikings may then want to talk about restructuring his contract, or else that rookie might end up replacing him sooner rather than later.

Ponder Cited As Reason For Harvin’s Unhappiness

March 11, 2013, by 31 comments

Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports has been at the forefront of the Percy Harvin story, including a recent report that Harvin nearly walked out on his team last season, and he is tidying up this whole saga by tossing one last dose of fuel onto the fire.

Cole asserts that unhappiness with the Vikings quarterback situation, specifically Christian Ponder, was a primary driver behind Harvin’s desire to leave Minnesota.

According to two sources, the straw that broke the Vikings’ back with Harvin is when he bemoaned the fact that quarterback Christian Ponder, a 2011 first-round pick, was not good enough. That came even though Ponder consistently fed Harvin the ball.

The rumors of a trade seemed to cause unrest within Vikings fan circles.  The trade itself seems to have divided them.  Now, this report that pins some blame on Ponder may end up causing blogs and message boards to get downright nasty, at least on sites with less refined and civilized readers than we are lucky enough to have here at VT.

Some, like Christopher Gates of the Daily Norseman, will question the report and/or Harvin’s sanity since his production was never as high as it was last season, prior to his injury, with Ponder at quarterback.  He was getting manufactured touches, getting touches at running back and on special teams, and was on his way to career highs and MVP consideration before he hurt his ankle in, ironically enough, Seattle.

Others, like this hack blogger who lacks common sense, think that Harvin’s supposed gripes were plenty founded and that Christian Ponder has yet to prove that he has what it takes to lead a championship team.  Harvin’s complaints, despite his personal accomplishments, might just prove that he is a fierce competitor that simply wanted to win football games and was willing to speak his mind when he felt somebody was holding the team back.

He might have learned that from Randy Moss, who once told anyone that would listen that Brad Childress should be fired.

I’m not saying that complaining about your young quarterback is a recommended course of action, but I also can’t call Harvin any nasty names because of it when I, myself, was not satisfied with Ponder’s play in 2012.

What we do know is that Ponder has what appears to be the full support of Rick Spielman and his staff.  Here’s hoping he doesn’t make them regret that loyalty.

Vikings Were In The Mix For Boldin

March 11, 2013, by 8 comments

On the same day that the Vikings receiver depth chart was blown to smithereens  by a deal that sent Percy Harvin to Seattle, Rick Spielman made his first attempt at reconstructing it.

And he missed.

Pro Football Talk reports that the Vikings offered a seventh round pick to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for 32 year old Anquan Boldin and his $6 million salary.  The San Francisco 49ers, who couldn’t be happy about Percy Harvin just joining their division rivals, were the high bidder with a sixth round pick.

Immediately following the Harvin trade Vikings fans, via Twitter and Facebook, immediately ran a long list of potential replacements through their heads.  Victor Cruz (tendered with a first rounder), numerous prospects, Greg Jennings, and Mike Wallace are at the forefront of those conversations.

Boldin, once a premier wide out in this league, is on nearing the end of his career and I have to say that I am not too terribly disappointed that this trade didn’t come to fruition.  He might prove me wrong in San Francisco for a year or two, but I just didn’t feel like news of trading for Boldin was the right medicine for just watching Percy Harvin walk out the front door.

Vikings Free Agent Target: Danario Alexander

March 11, 2013, by 5 comments

Free agency is just a day away, and as we all know, the Vikings will be looking to sign a wide receiver or two. As Adam mentioned a few days ago, The Vikings are believed to have contacted the agents of both free agent receivers Mike Wallace and Greg Jennings, but the buzz of either player coming to Minnesota has seemed to have died down. It looks like Mike Wallace will be heading to Miami, and Jennings wants to play on a team with a “good quarterback” (hard to imagine Ponder comes to his mind). Let’s face it, the Vikings probably aren’t going to make a blockbuster move in free agency, but there are still some legitimate free agent wide receivers who the Vikings will consider.

One guy I think the Vikings will look at is Danario Alexander of the San Diego Chargers. He is a restricted free agent, but only received a low tender from the Chargers despite coming off of a good season. Alexander only caught 37 passes in 2012, but he averaged 17.8 yards a catch going for 658 yards and 7 touchdowns. He’s a big receiver (6’5, 217) who can be a playmaker in our offense. Alexander has a lot of upside, and is the typical young receiver (24) with a lot of potential that I see Rick Spielman having an interest in.

The Vikings may have some competition for Alexander, but he is definitely worth pursuing.