Posts tagged: jasper brinkley

Sid: E.J. Could Be Coming Back

May 18, 2012, by 7 comments

As pointed out by The Viking Age, Sid Hartman recently stated that there is a “good chance” that middle linebacker E.J. Henderson re-signs with the Vikings this offseason.

Now, E.J. has been one of my favorite Vikings to watch for a number of years now (and I would love to still wear his jersey on game day without feeling silly), but even I wouldn’t have predicted that the elder Henderson somehow worked into the Vikings offseason plan of getting younger, healthier, and less expensive.

Jasper Brinkley might not fit the Tampa-2 scheme real great, as some media outlets have been quick to opine, but the right rotation of Brinkley, Erin Henderson and Chad Greenway could make them a very effective group.

Hartman writes that Henderson is not wavering from his demand to be paid the same as last season for his services, which would bring his salary in at $6.7 million.

That isn’t going to happen.  If it was, it already would have.

Henderson is on the wrong side of thirty, has had trouble staying on the field in consecutive seasons, and is a major liability in pass coverage.  If the Vikings planned to give that type of money to a veteran linebacker this offseason, that too would have already happened.

In fact, looking back at how the offseason has played, one of my only real complaints is that the Vikings didn’t pony up for a stud linebacker when they had the chance.  Stephen Tulloch (signed with Lions), Curtis Lofton (Saints), Dan Connor (Cowboys), and David Hawthorne (Seahawks) all could have been sure-fire upgrades at the linebacker position.

I like Brinkley’s potential, but the linebacker position is one to keep an eye on as the offseason progresses.

Spielman Talks Up Jasper Brinkley

March 25, 2012, by 3 comments

With long-time starter E.J. Henderson, the Vikings are leaving the door open to his return, but it seems more likely they move on.  In an offseason where free agent linebackers are, for some reason, getting treated like they have less value than punters, the Vikings have kept their distance from any of them.

One reason for that is that they have high hopes for third year player Jasper Brinkley.

Brinkley is 26 years old and missed all of 2011 when he had hip surgery in August.  He had played in all 32 games of the previous seasons, including taking Henderson’s place in 2009 following the leg injury that ended his season.

“When (Brinkley) did step in for E.J., he continued to get better and really started playing well — especially as we went through the playoffs and the more experience he got,” Spielman said from the NFL’s owner meetings.

“He started off very well last year (in training camp) and it’s a shame he got his hip hurt,” Spielman continued, “but we’ve got a lot of high expectations for Jasper coming back.”

Henderson, age 31, does not seem to fit into Spielman’s youth movement strategy employed this offseason and the most likely scenario is that Brinkley’s main source of competition will come from the 2012 NFL Draft.

For now, consider starting middle linebacker Brinkley’s job to lose.