Rumors

2013 Has Begun… With A Quarterback Conundrum

January 5, 2013, by 53 comments

Even with plenty of concerns about whether or not Christian Ponder has what it takes to be a long term solution at quarterback, the Vikings brass has done a great job of keeping quarterback controversies at bay for all of 2012.

Welcome to 2013.

Numerous rumors and “reports” are floating around that Christian Ponder’s “questionable” status was actually more legitimate than many originally thought.  Apparently his elbow bursitis, and the need to drain that elbow, could be enough to keep him off the field tonight.

Yes, that means Joe Webb is being rumored to start against the Packers in the biggest game of the year.

We’ll know a concrete answer soon enough, but if you weren’t anxious enough about this game, these rumors are certainly making life interesting for Vikings fans on this Saturday afternoon.

Links Of Wild Card Week

January 2, 2013, by 3 comments

Well, here we are, fans of a team that nobody expected to make the playoffs.  Now that they have, nobody expects the Vikings to do much in the playoffs.

Here is the best of the best from around the net:

With Harvin, A Plethora Of Options Exist At This Moment

December 21, 2012, by 24 comments

Back in April The Sporting News decided to dig into the past and expose some not-so-flattering stories about Percy Harvin, Urban Meyer, and the Florida program in general.  Their findings illuminated Harvin as an entitled young man with a short temper.

At the time, the piece had the feel of a hit job of sorts, and many questioned the odd timing of this information coming out.

With a recent report from 1500 ESPN describing yet another confrontation between the uber-talented receiver and his current coach, Harvin’s status as a Viking is yet again being called into question.

Reports of the past have included throwing a college coach on the ground and putting hands around his neck, testing positive for marijuana prior to the NFL Scouting Combine, throwing a weight at former head coach Brad Childress, and requesting a trade prior to this season before performing a sudden about-face.  That list would be enough to call any player unreliable, and we haven’t even started talking about his long list of injury and health issues.

Some Vikings fans are going to want to bury memories of Randy Moss departing Minnesota (twice) in their subconscious and assume the Vikings will “pay the man” and that Harvin will get a deal that makes him a Viking for life.

The phrase “where there is smoke there is fire” comes to mind, however.  And the player that has earned the nickname “Cheech” in this corner of the internet seems to always be surrounded by plenty of smoke.

Still, lots of options exist for how this could play out and I want to take a second to look at each one (and there could be more) in great detail.

Pay The Man

The Vikings may never be certain that they have made Harvin permanently happy in Minnesota, but they can always try and then hope for the best, and the best way to do that is by getting out the checkbook.

Entering the final year of his rookie deal Harvin is set to make a paltry $1.55 million in 2013.  Considering the impact he can have on a football game, and his particular need for long term financial security as an injury prone player, it isn’t surprising that Harvin would be willing to go to battle against the Vikings front office in an effort to get guaranteed money.

The question facing the Vikings will be just how much money they are willing to pay their 24 year old game changer.  Agent Joel Segal has been known to milk team’s for all they are worth in regards to his top clients.  Evidence in this can be found in the contracts for Michael Vick (6 years, $100 million), Chris Johnson (6 year, $55 million), and DeAngelo Hall (6 year, $55 million).

More specifically, Segal raided plenty of coffers with receivers of lesser talent than Harvin which include Josh Morgan (2 years, $11.5 million), Marques Colston (5 years, $36.3 million), and Pierre Garcon (5 years, $42.5 million).  Each of these contracts came with considerable, to say the least, guarantees.

He’s been at it for a long time, too, and in 1999 he made Antonio Freeman the highest paid receiver in NFL history with a seven year deal worth $42 million.

I suspect Harvin, on a five year deal, would demand somewhere in the neighborhood of $55 million with about $25 million guaranteed.  That is a hefty price indeed, but one the Vikings might have to pay if they don’t want to reduce their receiver group down to absolutely nothing, a possibility that both Harvin and his agent are well aware of.

The thing to keep in mind about taking on that big of a cap hit for Harvin is that there really is no team in the NFL that can, or does, pay two big money receivers.  With the Vikings obviously needing help at the position, a blockbuster contract for Harvin would be quite the commitment to him and an acceptance that any other real help is going to have to come in the NFL Draft or in the form of low-cost free agent fliers.

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Links Of The Week: Chasing History

December 20, 2012, by 14 comments

Tomorrow cannot be the end of the world.  I haven’t found out if the Vikings make the playoffs yet.  I haven’t witnessed Adrian Peterson break the rushing record.  So many unanswered questions!

Anyways, I wanted to share with you all what I daydream about:  Peterson breaking both the single game record and single game record this week… against the vaunted Texans defense… on the same play.  Pure awesomeness is what that would be.

Here is the best of the best from around the web.  Enjoy!

(Late) Links Of The Week: Rams Up Next

December 15, 2012, by 1 comment

I’m a little late getting this week’s Links segment kicked out to you all, but there are still plenty of great articles to point you towards as you wait for tomorrow’s kickoff.  Read them, tell the author what you think, and tell them who sent you:

  • The Vikings passing offense is going to be a main sticking point in almost every game preview from here on out.
  • Allen the Entertainer went on Jim Rome’s new show and had quite the fun time blasting recent changes to the game of football.
  • When building this Vikings team the front office has to be aware that they will most likely be playing their home games outdoors for two years.
  • Anyone that still clings to the idea that the NFL is not a quarterback driven league need not look much further than the 2012 Minnesota Vikings.
  • Here is a dream that just seems incredibly too pleasant to ever come true.
  • Chris Kluwe got fined for his uniform infraction on Sunday, and his special teams coach has just about had it with his punter.
  • I found a Bill Musgrave supporter!  Take that Sasquatch hunters!
  • Todd McShay put down the self-tanner long enough to release his first mock draft and he has the Vikings using their pick on a defensive tackle with the last name “Williams.”  That has worked well for us in the past.
  • A.J. Jefferson’s concussion last Sunday shouldn’t hold him out this week, but he was plenty scared following the injury.
  • Scroll down past the game recap (unless you want to read it, of course) to the table that compares Christian Ponder to Tarvaris Jackson.  Then, drink heavily.
  • Bill Musgrave says that Christian Ponder’s footwork “needs to be more refined.”  He also contends that books have pages and that cows say “moo.”
  • Leslie Frazier has told defensive end D’Aundre Reed, who hasn’t been active for two weeks, to be patient.
  • The question of whether or not Minnesota can afford their new Vikings stadium is not yet answered, and won’t be for a long time.
  • How this offseason goes for free agents Dwight Freeney and Osi Umeniyora could tell us a lot about Jared Allen’s potential future, or lack thereof, in Minnesota.
  • Some really fun conceptual pictures of the future stadium in Mineapolis.
  • Jerome Felton has been a very solid fullback paving the way for Adrian Peterson, but rookie Rhett Ellison might be even better in that area.
  • Everson Griffen avoided a fine for his hit high on Jay Cutler last week.
  • Bryant McKinnie used to look like an All Pro against lesser talents while looking like a clown against the better pass rushers in the NFL.  Rookie Matt Kalil, however, looks like an All Pro no matter who lines up across from him.
  • A lot weird things can happen on any given Sunday, but Vikes Geek points out three things that he considers to be ludicrous from last week.
  • Rookies Harrison Smith and Josh Robinson have proved to be just what the doctor ordered for an annually disappointing Vikings secondary.
  • Don’t click this link unless you are prepared to buy yourself the greatest Christmas present ever.

With Harvin’s Season Done, Vikings Pressure Mounts

December 5, 2012, by 12 comments

When Percy Harvin suffered an ankle injury on November fourth it was the third quarter of a game taking place in Seattle.

Despite the ugly nature of the hit to his ankle, and the obvious pain he was in, the Vikings coaching staff allowed Harvin to re-enter the game and play on.  That decision can possibly be added to the list of questionable ones being compiled by those that would like to see Leslie Frazier and his staff gone for good.

Harvin reportedly suffered a grade three sprain, which means a ligament actually tore, and the team held his roster spot for him hoping he would recover in the four to six week timeframe expected of these injuries.  Each week, however, Frazier strung along the media (and fans) making it seem like Harvin could actually suit up the following game.

As recently as yesterday, Frazier expressed some optimism that Harvin would be able to do some things in practice that would indicate that he might be available to face the Bears on Sunday.

Instead, news broke late in the day on Wednesday that Harvin would be placed on Injured Reserve, prematurely ending his 2012 campaign that had him in the MVP conversation early on.

The news is grim for everyone that enjoys seeing Harvin play, but it perhaps hits quarterback Christian Ponder and his 32nd ranked passing offense the hardest.

As a receiver, Harvin caught 66 passes for 677 yards through nine games, which both still lead the Vikings.  In fact, through 12 games all of the Vikings wide receivers combined have accounted for only 68 catches and 809 yards.  His three touchdowns as a receiver match that of all the others combined, as well.

Plus, those stats don’t even begin to measure the full impact could have on a game as a running back and as a return man.  His ability to pick up yards, scare opposing coaches, and set the Vikings up with excellent field position has been sorely missed in his absence and that will surely continue.

Another thing that bothers me (and quite possibly only me) is that Harvin’s ankle injury occurred on a run play.  Now, I don’t mind mixing it up and getting creative with how you use a talent like Harvin, but I have been harping on something all year long and this now gives me the chance to use hindsight to hammer a point home.

Why sacrifice a third round draft pick to trade up a handful of spots in the second round of the Draft to “steal” a running back like Toby Gerhart if you aren’t going to use the guy?

Through 12 games the Stanford product has only touched the ball 33 times.  After a rough game against San Francisco in week three, Gerhart has seen his role diminish to almost nothing, averaging less than one carry per game over the last seven weeks.

For as creative as the Vikings are in their use of Harvin, and as forgiving of disastrous performances as they are with Ponder, you would think they could find a better way to utilize the backup running back for which they invested so much to acquire.  It isn’t like they didn’t know how dangerously thin they were at wide receiver and that Harvin’s industrial-sized work made him an even bigger injury risk than he normally is.

After an amazing half of a season, however, one of our last images of Harvin’s 2012 season will be him yelling at Frazier on the sideline out of frustration for a series of red zone calls that resulted in a Blair Walsh field goal.

That spat on the sideline sets up perfectly what will surely be a drama-filled offseason for Harvin and the Vikings, previewed last offseason over a brief period of time, as Harvin and the Vikings could very well end up in a stalemate over his contract status.

2013 is set to be the final year of his contract and he is expected to make only about $1.55 million.  Harvin has been rumored to consider 2012 a “contract year,” however, and it is obvious that things could get very ugly very fast if a contract extension cannot be worked out.

And it may not be easy.

Harvin, like many fans, probably views himself as one of the top offensive threats in the NFL.  His agent Joel Segal probably does little to temper Harvin’s expectations of big money, as he is known for getting incredibly robust contracts in place for lesser talents than Harvin, and I would not be shocked to see him demanding top dollar at the negotiating table.

Meanwhile, the Vikings have on their hands a temperamental player that came out of college proceeded by stories of his entitled attitude, and that even once hurled a weight at head coach Brad Childress in the training facility.  Oh, and while he had only ever missed three games prior to this injury, he also seems to be a weekly mainstay on the injury report.

Going to the internet and browsing Harvin’s highlight reels will make you think paying the man is a no-brainer, but I just have a hunch the decision will not be such an easy one inside Winter Park this offseason.

Get ready for a Harvin-filled offseason, folks.

Links Of The Week: Hanging By A Thread

December 4, 2012, by 3 comments

A season that is all but suffocated.  A star receiver on the mend.  A quarterback under immense pressure to perform.  A group of coaches whose seats have to feel a bit toasty.  A linebacker calling for more drunks to attend games.  A divisional home game fast approaching.

The drama has reached heights we have yet to see in 2012, which means there are plenty of great articles floating around the internet, and I am here to bring them all your way: