Speculation

Talks With Parcells “Never Happened”

April 16, 2012, by 6 comments

Co-Owner of the Minnesota Vikings, Mark Wilf, took time this weekend to try and squash rumors that the Vikings had, at some point, pursued Bill Parcells to run their football team.

He went as far as to say that the reported event “never happened” and then went on to gush about the man they hired, Rick Spielman.

“From A to Z, he has all the tools you need to run a football operation,” Wilf said Saturday. “We felt he was the perfect choice to be our general manager. Rick has the ability to follow through on a plan. He’s disciplined, but will be aggressive when he has to. It’s a plan that we’re all comfortable with. We’re following his lead.”

Look, I’m not calling Mark Wilf a liar, but even if they had been in talks before settling on Spielman what else is he going to say at this point in time?  Whether or not the Vikings talked to any other candidates will have no impact on how the owners talk publicly about Spielman now that he is their man.

After all, with the most important Vikings Draft in recent memory right around the corner, we wouldn’t want to see season ticket holders lose whatever faith they might have in this organization’s ability to turn things around.

Let’s (Perhaps Not) Make A Deal

April 15, 2012, by 62 comments

Owner and CEO of the Indianapolis Colts Jim Irsay is suddenly no stranger to the “Quarterback Carousel” game that haunts many NFL teams.

For the first time in a very long time, he has had to evaluate this Draft class’ top quarterback prospects after giving away the identity of his franchise, Peyton Manning.  While it is widely expected that Irsay and company will ultimately select Stanford star Andrew Luck with the first overall pick, he recently made comments about Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill that would suggest the Vikings will at least receive some inquiries about the availability of the third overall selection.

Irsay’s recent tweet said, “Tannehill is a hidden gem in this draft, a quiet secret who was always sneaking up to #3..you want him, you better talk to Zigi The Biggie!”

Former Colts G.M. Bill Polian also took to the airwaves to suggest that the path to Tannehill will run through the third overall selection.  He predicted that the Miami Dolphins would trade up to the third spot giving the Vikings their eighth overall selection, their second rounder, and their third rounder to secure Tannehill.

Since trade speculation is starting to pick , Brett and I, who have somewhat different opinions on the topic, decided to create a debate post to start the conversation. We hope it will continue into the comments section with opinions from you all.

According to this post-lockout chart, the Vikings third overall selection is worth 401.3 points of value.  The eighth overall pick (318 points), second round pick (159.1), and third rounder (119.4) total 596.5 as a package which suggests the Vikings would be getting the better end of the deal.

Okay, on to the debate!

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Dontari Poe To Visit With Vikings

April 14, 2012, by 18 comments

Reports are surfacing that the Vikings have worked out Memphis nose tackle Dontari Poe.

Poe (6’ 4” – 346 pounds) solidified his status as this Draft’s top nose tackle with a superb display at the NFL Scouting Combine which included a 4.87 second forty time.  He is expected to come off the board in the first round, but it would be a stretch to call him a candidate to be drafted in the third spot currently occupied by the Vikings.

The team’s interest in top prospects outside the top three is not unsurprising, however.

The Vikings appear to have genuine interest in moving backwards if the right offer presents itself and they need to be prepared to pull the trigger on other top prospects should that situation become reality.  Secondly, since they own the 35th pick too, they need to be prepared to select a top prospect that happens to fall into their lap.

The Vikings have also visited with Boise State defensive tackle Chase Baker.

Trade Jared Allen? We Should Talk About That

April 14, 2012, by 16 comments

A number of weeks ago, Brett and I had a little side discussion about the possibility of the Vikings trading Jared Allen this offseason.  We were even thinking about doing a little back-and-forth feature at the time, as we knew it was inevitable that some other media outlet would bring up this possibility, but we never quite managed to get around to it.

Now that I am back from a long work week, however, I took some time to review all the comments from the last few days and one jumped out to me.

In the comment, a reader says that he heard on a local radio station that a rumor is making the rounds that the Vikings are possibly (could be, maybe, potentially, maybe) considering entertaining offers for their stud right end.

Earlier this offseason, Rick Spielman went out of his way to say that Adrian Peterson was the only player that was off the table in terms of an early departure, which makes sense considering the blockbuster deal they just signed him to.  He easily could have included Jared Allen in that statement, but didn’t.

So, it makes sense that the Vikings won’t trade Peterson, but would an Allen trade make sense?

First, let’s take a look at some possible reasons to consider it an option:

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Ranking The Vikings Draft Needs

April 9, 2012, by 4 comments

I am a big fan of drafting best player available, regardless of need, and building your team around solid, young players instead of reaching to fill a void.  After all, there is nothing wrong with having good depth at a position and/or getting better at something you are already good at.

Still, teams have needs and the Minnesota Vikings are quite obviously no exception. 

With that, I present you with my rankings of how the Vikings needs stack up going into this year’s Draft:

1.      Safety

There is perhaps no positional group on any team in the NFL that needs upgrading more than the Vikings need to upgrade their safeties.  Heck, at this point I would say the Vikings have a greater need at safety than the Dolphins do at quarterback.  The thought of Jamarca Sanford and Mistral Raymond being starters instead of depth players, especially in our division, should worry even the most enthusiastic optimists.

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Notre Dame And The Vikings

April 9, 2012, by 5 comments

While perusing the internet, I came across this article written by Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press.  In it, Walters offers up very little reason outside of the obvious needs of this roster to surmise that there is “little doubt” the Vikings front office will “pounce” on Notre Dame safety Harrison Smith if he is available when they are on the clock in the second round.

One thing Walters wrote did jump out to me, however, of something that might actually have some meat behind it.  He noted that Rick Spielman seems to have a thing for Notre Dame players.  Considering that within less than a year he drafted tight end Kyle Rudolph, gave a hefty contract to center John Sullivan, and signed tight end John Carlson it seems that Walters might be on to something.

In fact, a quick scan of the Vikings roster indeed showed that the only other college to occupy three roster spots on this team is Iowa.  Then, Brett passed along the news that Notre Dame receiver Michael Floyd seems to have caught the eye of the Vikings, and I decided we should take a look at what all Notre Dame is offering up this year and examine their prospects a little closer.  Soon, I will take a look at Iowa, too.

Here are the major prospects that could be selected in a couple of weeks and some information on each:

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Five Free Agents Left That Could Help

April 8, 2012, by 6 comments

Free agency has now reached a near standstill with very few notable names left on the market.

The Vikings have been slowly accumulating low-risk “bargains” out of the discount bin and it wouldn’t be overly surprising to see them continue that approach between now and the Draft.  The Vikings likely want to keep their cap situation healthy so that they can possibly be active when players are cut following the Draft and training camp.

Still, there are a handful of guys left that I think can improve this roster, and here are my top five:

5.  Marcus Thomas, DT

Thomas is only 26 and is currently mulling over three offers.  He isn’t someone the Vikings should overpay for or anything, but he is younger than others currently available (Albert Haynesworth and Aubrayo Franklin, for example) and is a very solid run stopper.  With Letroy Guion and Fred Evans returning, a guy like Thomas would create quite the interesting training camp competition.

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