Transaction

Seven Draft Picks Now Under Contract

May 22, 2012, by 5 comments

The Vikings picked Tuesday to get a lot of work out of the way in signing their rookie class.

We already mentioned that the Vikings signed their two seventh rounders in a post earlier today.  Now, the number of rookies under contract has grown to seven.

Fourth round receivers out of Arkansas have both signed their deals along with fourth round tight end Rhett Ellison.  Safety Robert Blanton and kicker Blair Walsh have also signed.

First round picks Matt Kalil and Harrison Smith should be signing soon, along with third round cornerback Josh Robinson, thus completing the process of signing the entire draft class.

Long gone are the days of rookie holdouts, which is one of the most visible improvements from the last CBA to the current one.

Vikings Start Signing Rookies From The Bottom Up

May 22, 2012, by 7 comments

It bugs us.

It shouldn’t, but it does.

The Vikings seem to always be the last to re-sign their own free agents and also always seem to be behind the curve when it comes to getting their draft selections under contract.

With the new Collective Bargaining Agreement including a rookie wage scale that greatly simplifies the process of signing rookies, these negotiations are much less volatile and we should not be worried, as fans, about whether or not our entire rookie class will be present for training camp.

They will be.

Still, it is newsworthy that the Vikings have finally started signing their rookie class. 

The signings have started with two seventh round picks, defensive end Trevor Guyton and linebacker Audie Cole, and there are likely more that will follow soon.

All rookies drafted from rounds two through seven will sign four year deals under the new CBA.  First rounders have a fifth year option.

Vikes Bring Roster Up To 89 By Signing Levi Horn

May 19, 2012, by 8 comments

The Vikings roster now has only one vacant spot.

On Friday, the team signed former Chicago offensive tackle Levi Horn.  At age 25, Horn stands at 6’ 7” and weighs 315 pounds.  He was a redshirt freshman at Oregon before transferring to Montana with hopes of getting more playing time.  In 2010, he went undrafted and signed with the Bears as a free agent.

Horn spent most of his time on Chicago’s practice squad but was put on the active roster in November last season.  The Bears waived him earlier this week.

According to his Wikipedia page, Horn is an active member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and is a spokesman for the White House’s “Let’s Move!” campaign.

Murphy Was A Wanted Man… Version 2.0

May 18, 2012, by 1 comment

Yesterday I made a big deal out of the fact that the Vikings used their waiver power to land Harvard offensive tackle Kevin Murphy, grabbing him ahead of two other teams that put in a claim on him.

The headline ran said “Murphy Was A Wanted Man.”

As it turns out, I should have emphasized the past tense.

Apparently Murphy was unable to pass his physical with the Vikings so he was immediately waives by the team.  Also waived on Thursday was South Carolina defensive back C.C. Whitlock who was signed by the Vikings as an undrafted free agent soon after the Draft ended.

The Vikings currently have two vacant roster spots and it’ll be interesting to see how they fill them.  Signing a kicker could make for some minor drama while my eyes keep gravitating towards a few free agent runners that might fit the low risk and low cost mold that Spielman seems to covet.  And, yes, I am talking about Mewelde Moore.

Murphy Was A Wanted Man

May 17, 2012, by 5 comments

The Vikings have made some fairly low level moves over the last few days, and the most intriguing is their decision to claim Harvard offensive lineman Kevin Murphy, which we mentioned yesterday.

Us fans are always on the lookout for training camp “sleepers” and signs point towards Murphy as a candidate to keep an eye on.  What signs?  Well, for starters, the Vikings weren’t the only team that wanted the young tackle after he was cut by the 49ers.

According to a Scout.com source, both the Detroit Lions and the Houston Texans put in a waiver claim on the 6’ 7” rookie.  So, it should at least be an encouraging sign that Rick Spielman wasn’t the only NFL G.M. that wanted this guy on the roster.

One of the most intriguing things about the remainder of this offseason will surely revolve around Spielman’s willingness to use his waiver priority (the Vikings are third) when other teams part ways with players.  Murphy is surely not the last guy that will join the Vikings via this route between now and the season opener.

WELCOME TO THE BIG SHOW: Greg Childs

May 16, 2012, by 9 comments

Welcome to part six of our ten part series entitled “Welcome to the Big Show” where we attempt to bring you a comprehensive, in-depth look at each of the Vikings ten Draft selections of 2012. In case you missed them, here are links to the first five: Matt Kalil, Harrison Smith, Josh Robinson, Rhett Ellison, and Jarius Wright.

Make sure to go back and check out Brett’s fine article on Wright.  As we all know by now, Wright and Greg Childs have been friends and teammates since a very young age.  Childs is the subject of today’s “Welcome to the Big Show” segment.

PERSONAL HISTORY

During his junior year at Warren High School in Arkansas he put up 65 receptions and made 15 of them count for touchdowns, and earned a spot on the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s all-Junior team.  In 2007, he was an all-State selection as a senior.

Childs left high school as one of the most heavily recruited players in the nation.  He received scholarship offers from Tennessee, Ole Miss, Colorado, Mississippi State, and Texas Tech before deciding to stay close to home and become a Razorback.

Childs turned 22 on March 10th of this year which makes him the youngest receiver on the Vikings roster.

He met fellow Viking rookie Jarius Wright in the third grade when he moved to Warren.  Wright was a popular kid at the elementary school and they decided to target Childs for some old fashioned bullying.  It took about two years for them to finally become friends, and they have been teammates ever since the seventh grade.

Continue Reading →

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.]