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Vikings 2012 Roster Cuts

August 31, 2012, by 92 comments

Today, the Vikings have the always difficult task of trimming their roster down to 53 players. A week or so ago, the Vikings made the jump from 90 to 75. The players cut in the first round are listed below. Today, though, we are focused on the final cuts that will fit the roster within the NFL’s roster requirements.

I’ll do my best to keep up with the cuts as they come. Keep checking back for more.

(Edit: The official announcement of cuts has been made by the Vikings. See the list below for the players who were released/waived today)

First round:

  • Bridger Buche, Guard
  • Derrick Coleman, Running Back,
  • Grant Cook, Guard
  • Solomon Elimimian, Linebacker
  • Corey Gatewood, Cornerback
  • Levi Horn, Offensive Tackle
  • Anthony Jacobs, Defensive Tackle
  • Kamar Jorden, Wide Receiver
  • A.J. Love, Wide Receiver
  • Tyler Nielsen, Linebacker
  • Ernest Owusu, Defensive End
  • Tydreke Powell, Defensive Tackle
  • Chris Stroud, Cornerback
  • Kerry Taylor, Wide Receiver
  • Bryan Walters, Wide Receiver

Today’s Cuts:

  • Ryan D’Imperio, Fullback
  • Chris DeGeare, Offensive Guard
  • Emmanuel Arceneaux, Wide Receiver
  • Nick Reed, Defensive End
  • Jeff Charleston, Defensive End
  • Trevor Guyton, Defensive Tackle (rookie)
  • Lex Hilliard, Running Back
  • Kevin Murphy, Offensive Tackle
  • Sage Rosenfels, Quarterback
  • Jordan Todman, Running Back
  • Chris Carr, Cornerback
  • Eric Frampton, Safety
  • Chase Baker, Defensive Tackle
  • Bobby Felder, Cornerback
  • Tyler Holmes, Offensive Guard
  • Reggie Jones, Cornerback
  • Corey Parades, Linebacker
  • Austin Pasztor, Offensive Guard
  • Quentin Saulsberrry, Center
  • Mickey Shuler, Tight End

Placed on IR:

  • DeMarcus Love, Offensive Tackle

Jenkins Pay Cut Means He Will Likely Stay For A Year

August 16, 2012, by 2 comments

On Tuesday, news broke that Vikings wide out Michael Jenkins agreed to take a significant cut in his pay under a renegotiated two year deal.

This year, Jenkins salary goes from $2.5 million to $1 million.  In 2013, his salary goes from $2.5 million to $825,000.  A roster bonus worth up to $2.425 million makes it unlikely that Jenkins is in the team’s plan beyond this season, but the restructured numbers make it likely that he sticks with the team through roster cuts following preseason.

Last summer the Vikings got both Greg Camarillo and Bernard Berrian to agree to salary reductions and both made the week one roster.  Neither, however, remains on the team nearly a year later.  Actually, neither is currently employed at all.

Asking Jenkins to take a pay reduction could have been a risky move for the Vikings.  Had he refused, using the Greg Childs injury and Jerome Simpson suspension as leverage, the team could have very easily found themselves cutting the veteran without a viable backup plan in place.

Despite the pay cut, Jenkins still has the highest base salary of all receivers on the Vikings roster, which proves that Percy Harvin will need a pay raise soon enough and also that the Vikings are content taking the discount approach when it comes to the position.  There were a number of talented, albeit expensive, options available in free agency this year that the Vikings simply passed on.

Right now, the quarterback and the wide receiver positions take up a very small amount of the team’s salary cap.  That figure is even smaller now with the Jenkins reduction.  One can’t help but wonder if the production from the passing offense will match the investment, or lack thereof, the front office has made from a dollar standpoint.

Now, the only remaining question for this season is if they will find a way to spend their newly found cap space.  And, if so, whether or not they will spend it on something that helps their aerial attack.

Childs Sent To Waivers

August 6, 2012, by 27 comments

The Vikings had 10 draft picks in April, and before a preseason game has even been played, 10% of them are no longer on the team.

Two torn patella tendons have already ended rookie receiver Greg Childs’ season with the Vikings, and it may have already ended his career with the team as well.

On Monday morning, the Vikings waived their fourth round pick, according to PFT.  This is an extremely disappointing turn of events for the young receiver who was beginning to flash in training camp and was an option to be a starter in week one.

If Childs makes it through waivers, which is not a guarantee, then the Vikings may be able and willing to stash him on the injured reserve and give him another chance at success a year from now.

Things To Know About Monday’s TC Session

July 31, 2012, by 5 comments

A continuation of the news roundup from training camp.  Day three came and went, and here are the top 10 items that you should know:

1.  Michael Jenkins Is Feeling Good

30 year old receiver Michael Jenkins might have an uphill battle when it comes to making this roster, but if he is cut it won’t be because of his torn meniscus from last November.  Jenkins pronounced himself fully recovered from his surgery, which had seemed to hamper him earlier this offseason, on Monday.

2.  Chris Stroud In, Nick Taylor Out

Training camp has claimed its first victim.  A torn labrum landed cornerback Nick Taylor on the injured waivers on Monday, and the Vikings replaced his spot with rookie cornerback Chris Stroud out of Webber International.  Stroud had participated in the Vikings rookie minicamp back in May.  You might remember that Taylor was the “point guard” that Rick Spielman took a lot of grief for signing somewhat early into free agency.

3.  Jared Vs. Matt

The much anticipated matchup between Jared Allen and Matt Kalil got its first action on Monday.  Allen was able to put the moves on Kalil only once during their first head-to-head session, and Kalil largely held his own over the course of the day.  All accounts are that Kalil looked the part of a top five left tackle, and in being compared to Charlie Johnson’s first day on the job is an obvious and immediate upgrade at the position.

4.  Robinson’s Hammy Still Hurtin’

Third round pick Josh Robinson has the skill set to contribute to the Vikings defense, perhaps as a starter.  However, his hamstring injury is causing the Vikings to take a cautious approach and he has been missing practice time and that could continue for a while.  The Vikings and many others view Robinson as a valuable player to have, but he is missing important repetitions that could stunt his growth from a learn-the-game standpoint.

5.  Vikings Are Copy Cats Part I

The Vikings want to copy their divisional rival Chicago Bears when it comes to at least one phase of the game.  Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer admitted on Monday that when the Vikings signed Zack Bowman, a key member of Chicago’s annually fantastic special teams, he jumped on the chance to “grill” Bowman about Chicago.  He intends to not only use the information as a resource when playing against the Bears, but to also perhaps try and emulate the league’s best unit in recent years.  What did Bowman tell Priefer?  That it helps to have a really good returner (i.e. Devin Hester) on your team.  Zack Bowman’s new nickname here at VT is officially Captain Obvious.

6.  Vikings Are Copy Cats Part II

Last year, the tight end duo of the New England Patriots was insane.  Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Henandez combined for 169 catches, over 2,200 yards, and 24 touchdowns.  Talk about trend setting.  A number NFL teams would love to duplicate those stats and the Vikings are one of them, which had to play into their decision to invest so heavily in John Carlson this offseason despite the presence of Kyle Rudolph.  The Vikings gave their own duo a set of game tapes from Patriots games and asked them to study the way the Patriots use their tight end, which has Rudolph all excited about things to come.

7.  A Cautionary Tale

Today is July 31st which means it is the 11th anniversary of the saddest day in Vikings history:  the death of Korey Stringer.  Peterson’s seafood issue on Monday surely scared a number of people that have been with the organization to remember Stringer’s death which was caused by heat stroke.  It is hot right now in Mankato, and we have all read the stories year after year since Stringer’s passing, but you know that today’s date carries special meaning to those guys practicing today.

8.  Cook Standing Out

There are a number of good tidbits in this post from the Daily Norseman, who have a man on the ground at training camp, but one stuck out to me in particular.  Chris Cook, according to the report, is looking like a very good corner now that his off-field issues are (hopefully) behind him.  Cook looked decent before his mid-season arrest last year, and finding a true talent to play with Antoine Winfield and company could be a huge boost to this defense.

9.  Receivers Getting Some Attention

I’m not sure if this is a good sign for our defense, but I am encouraged by the sheer number of good reports coming out of camp about the Vikings receivers.  Jerome Simpson seems to be as advertised, Percy Harvin has been tearing it up, and every time I turn around another receiver is getting praise.  On Monday a Jarius Wright touchdown turned some heads (see below for more), Devin Aromashodu made the play of a day with a leaping catch, and even tight end John Carlson is getting praise from the local media.  Greg Childs was the only one to stand out in a negative way on Monday, as he dropped a wide open pass after burning a defensive back.

10.  Shocker:  Allen Is Vocal

A funny story originated from one of the final plays of Monday’s practice.  The third string offense, led by Sage Rosenfels, had a first down at the one yard line with eight seconds remaining on the clock.  Rosenfels lobbed a pass to rookie receiver Jarius Wright who caught the lob in the back corner of the end zone and stretched to get his feet down.  It was apparently a close call, but the referee on hand signaled it was a touchdown, and then all hell broke loose.  The offense celebrated while the defense argued, spearheaded by Jared Allen who wasn’t even in on the play.  “This is not college! This is not college! This isn’t high school,” Allen hollered as he got in the refs face, in good fun. “You gotta have two feet in!”  Mike Wobschall has a number of other great moments to check out right here.

Vikes Cave To Kalil On Offset Language

July 26, 2012, by No comments yet

As Brett mentioned in the post below this one, Matt Kalil will report on time to training camp after signing his rookie deal on Thursday morning, effectively ending any chance for unneeded drama during the preseason.

The deal was able to get done because the Vikings caved on language in the rookie deal that allows Kalil to collect payment from two different teams should he be cut by the Vikings and subsequently signed by someone else.

While the Vikings caved in the end, there is absolutely no reason for them not to attempt to get the best deal for the organization as long as there are negative impacts on the team as a result.  Negative impacts, such as a holdout, would have started to shown up tomorrow so there was no reason to flinch in this game of chicken until today.

Kalil’s contract, according to PFT, is for four years and worth $19,770,598.

The deal is completely guaranteed and included a signing bonus of $12,818,620.

The place where he was selected combined with the contract he was given suggests that the team plans on Kalil being their starting left tackle for a decade or more, so I am betting this is the last we hear about this offset language in relation to Kalil… unless he busts.

Which he won’t.

Kalil Signs Rookie Contract and Will Report On Time

July 26, 2012, by 5 comments

Matt Kalil Signing Rookie Contract

Despite Adam’s reassurance that the Vikings just “…always seem to be behind the rest of the league when it comes to signing their own… draft classes,” it was hard to not get a little concerned when it looked like Kalil may not have a contract at the start of training camp.

Well, worry no longer. As of this morning, Kalil has officially signed his rookie contract and will be reporting to training camp on time.

The delay, which was believed to be due to the offset language in rookie contracts, is no longer an issue and all of the Vikings draft picks have been signed.

Now let’s get this season started.

Vikings Get Third Rounder In The Fold

July 25, 2012, by 6 comments

I don’t know how many times I have typed this sentence, but here it goes one more time:  The Vikings always seem to be behind the rest of the league when it comes to signing their own free agents and their own draft classes.

I’ve also said before that we have no reason to worry about any holdouts now that the rookie wage scale is in place.

On one hand, it might appear as there is no reason to worry because the Vikings reportedly agreed to terms today with third round cornerback (and fastest man at the Combine) Josh Robinson.  The deal, as usual, is for four years.

On the other hand, however, there is a growing sense that the Vikings are taking a firm stance on the issue of “offset language” in these rookie contracts so Matt Kalil’s contract remains to be finalized with training camp beginning tomorrow.

The offset clause being referenced has to do with how the contract is handled should the player be cut prior to the contract expiring and then have the player sign with another team.  The Vikings want the contract to be worded in such a way that any money they still owe the player is offset by the new contract awarded.    The players, of course, would rather see themselves in a situation where they are being paid by two teams for a year or two in the event that they are cut by the team that drafted them.

Rick Spielman has indicated that he is confident that Kalil’s deal will be done without any major hiccups. 

Here is hoping he is correct.