Zobel: Vikings Have Standing Offer For Harvin

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• I'm still torn about trading or not trading him. If he is much trouble then be done with it and send him of, still get the most for him as possible. Send him anywhere but NFC north

• the stripes of a zebra never change. the vikes had one of the best WR in the game in randy moss and then over nothing traded him. huge mistake. now they are about to do it again. harvin is one of the best in the game. pay him accordingly. harvin is absolutely right about complaining about our QB situation. ponder cannot throw the ball downfield. he is not a franchise QB. harvin just wants to win. I say attempt to negotiate with him.

  • Robert, Did Harvin actually complain about our QB position in public?

  • Dead on perfect call, I've been saying that also, hope ponder gets better, I don't see that happenin?

• Robert- Yep. One has to look at what is the common denominator here. Sadly, it's the Vikings. Almost everytime they score on a player in the draft, those players end-up leaving. They paint the player as a bad seed, or immoral in order to mask their own mistakes/stupidity/stinginess. It doesn't matter if you're crafty in the draft and optimize late first round picks if you rarely retain those players. Then, over spend in FA. Until we get a coach with full control, we're going no where. I wish Billick would come to us, but no coach will ever get a GM/HC dual authority for the Vikes.

  • who returns kickoffs better than percy harvin? NO ONE. and you want to trade him? excuse me? someone needs to remove their head from where the sun don't shine.
    Fraser will be gone after this season along with his QB. Just like chilly and T-jack. like I said, the stripes of a zebra never change.

  • Wouldn't it be a little more accurate to say that everytime they score on a talented player that fell in the draft due to red flags over their character that player eventually shows why he fell in the draft and they trade him? Pretty sure Peterson hasn't requested a trade and he's a pretty talented guy. The Vikes may not handle every situation perfectly but it's laughable to say they are the reason a player like Harvin and Moss are the way they are. Even Belicheck tired of Moss in New England. As far as all this Percy hates Ponder stuff is concerned, Ponder's limitations as a young QB are a big part of the reason they ran so many of those bubble screens that put the ball into Percy's hands so often last year. If Ponder was better at going through his reads Harvin probably would have caught less passes than he did, so I don't really get where that stuff is coming from. Ponder's got a long way to go, but I don't think he cost Percy touches last year and he did win games without him. Maybe Percy just wants to go to a team where he is the # one threat. He was 2nd fiddle to Tebow in college and he's always going to be 2nd to Peterson here.

    • OK- there's ONE example when they didn't mess-up having a special player, not just a pick working out. My point is, the Vikes always run into these problems. If a player out performs a contract, albeit AD, it seems like they always get into these situations.

      • Chad Greenway.
        EJ Henderson.
        John Sullivan
        Chris Kluwe
        Matt Birk

        Just a few more.

  • "Almost every time" ????? Chad Greenway, Adrian Peterson, Kevin Williams. Kyle Rudolph, Matt Kalil, Harrison Smith and Blair Walsh will all be Vikings for many years to come. There are many of us who believe that sending Randy Moss packing was a good thing. How many more teams did he play for? Raiders, Patriots, Titans, 49ers. The Vikings won without Percy this year during the toughest stretch of their schedule, and they can continue to do so.

    • Yeah, my point was that it's generally only been the guys that were known as malcontents before they ever brought them to Minnesota that have caused the problems. There is a reason they got Moss and Harvin in the 20's. Also, lets put things in perspective. If the team had taken DeMarcus Ware with that 7th overall pick they got from the Moss trade I don't think anyone would be complaining about it. A big reason why I think we hate seeing the Vikings trade players for picks is because they have missed on the picks they gained. The Moss trade got us Williamson, a safety named Ward who never made the team, and then eventually Jaymar Johnson (6th rounder they got from Jags for Williamson). Culpepper, who apparently got a TBI along with his torn knee ligaments, got us a 2nd round pick that became Ryan Cook. One thing we do have going for us this time around is a solid front office that has put together a couple nice drafts in a row. Hopefully if they do trade him they will turn whatever picks they get into valued starter for the team.

• They have cut down on braking the bank on F.A,s which is fine.
  Felt bad for Moss the 1st time. The 2nd time Not so much! It was him.
  Percy ? Didn't like the antics on the sideline with Frazier, But everyone makes mistakes.
  It's Not the first time. He has a history of it coming up thru the ranks.
  If they can work it out. Good! If not Fine...
  Enough Drama

  • When Moss was let go the second time I was outraged myself. I felt (And said so at the time) that Wilf should have promptly fired Childo and hired Moss back.

    • Fran,
      I Wasn't happy about Childress. But I was Disgusted in the way Moss treated folks ( The Catering guy )
      Everybody knew about it. Might have swayed Wilf's decision in bring him back.

      • Don't get me wrong Charlie, I realize Moss is douche as far as character is concerned but at the time, I felt he still had some above average talent as a WR. While on the other hand I was certain that Childo was far below average as a coach, so just fgured it would have worked out better with Fraizer coaching and Moss catching and Childo rode out of town on a rail.

        • I agree on both counts as far as Moss and Childress.
          Fran, I really think Moss could have been able to work with Frazier.

• Wait...didn't the Vikes make a very impressive late season run without Percy. And who was the QB? I have been as anti Ponder as anyone...but he played pretty darn well those last 4 games. He earned the right be the unquestionable starter next season. If Harvin has a problem w/Ponder, He needs a dose of reality. I agree that Ricky should stick to his guns....1st rounder or we try to negotiate or force his hand.

• Agree that 2nd Moss debacle was all Moss. I don't think Ponder has earned squat yet. And handing him the keys w/o question or competion will do nothing to improve him or speed-up that process what-so-ever.

• CC, I agree. unless we can get a 1st rounder for him, let him sit and sulk.
  As to Ponder, I'll agree the last 4 games were played decently. Nothing spectacular, just decent.
  I just can't get those short outs that fell at the feet of the receiver or flew over their heads. . .

• A second rounder ?!?! Trade him. Lets look at the facts guys the vikings went 5-2 without percy Harvin, according to records before the end of the season the Minnesota vikings had the toughest remaining four games int he season then any team. The vikings went 4-0 during this tough stretch the make the playoffs, and according to espn's Adam Seifert, during this stretch Christian Ponder has the leagues second best QB rating. I know its hard to imagine that the vikings could be better without percy but they just are. Furthermore the vikings have to manufacture touches for percy in terms of short passes and screens as he is not a true pure wideout, maybe it'll be good for the vikings to call plays and pass without restriction of having the ball going to a wide receiver before the ball is even snapped. Finally, according to many sources I have read teams are reluctant to trade a first or second for percy because of the growing concern that he will be asking for a contract far too rich for even his talents. Every article I have come across states that the vikings aren't likely to receive a first or a second, I know this is always likely to change closer to the draft day when teams starts to get nuts and all that stuff. The vikings have a very capable slot receiver in Wright, i say take the second and bid a farewell to Percy Harvin before he gives us all a migraine.

• Any team that trades for Harvin gets the same control the Vikings have - one more year on a contract and a pair of seasons, if necessary or desirable, as a Franchise guy. Considering most contracts in the NFL are not guaranteed, the reality is if Harvin were just to play out and not sign an extension with the Vikes he would still haul down around $24 maybe $25 million before he could become a true free agent.

  Is it just me, or is there something hard to like about an industry where an employee can honestly be dissatisfied with $25M for three years of work?

  • Thanks for the comment, Snortwood, always good to see new people in these parts. I hear a lot of people that feel the way you do about $$$ in pro sports. I understand it, but I also recognize that it is a love-hate thing.

    If it weren't for the big money in the NFL, NBA, and MLB then other leagues could spring up and share the talent pool. This would dilute the talent in the NFL and create far less of a "World's Best" atmosphere in the sport.

    The NFL is the best of the best of the best and always will be... as long as they keep overpaying athletes.

• Good comments by all.
  I am guessing the 49ers have offered a late second round pick???
  The Patriots haven't signed Welker yet, so maybe they are thinking about trading a late 1st for Harvin?
  I am not sure if I should wish for a bidding war... or a Vikings- Harvin reconciliation.

  Harvin was outstanding early in the year... But we did well without him down the stretch...
  I guess I will just have to wait this out and let Spielman and Frazier make the right call.

  • so the vikings won those games without harvin which is admirable. stll, are we not a much better football team with percy in the slot and returning kickoffs?

    • Robert,
      Can't argue that.

    • I agree with Robert here. I remember trying to explain to some people, a couple years ago, that really wanted to trade Adrian Peterson that having a good football player does not hurt your football team. Their argument was that he should be traded because he is too good to ignore, therefore the passing game is always going to struggle, or something silly like that.

      A player's contract can hurt a team. Them getting injured can hurt a team. Their attitude can hurt a team. A suspension or arrest can hurt a team. Coaches can misuse a player and hurt the team.

      Being talented, and therefore a focal point, does NOT hurt a team.

      • My only argument here (and I'm not really trying to make the arguement either) is that if the team is spending so much time and energy making sure the gameplan has enough touches to keep Percy happy that it's taking away from what the team wants to be doing offensively, than his presence on the roster could actually hurt them. When Percy went down last year I think we saw more of the offense that the Vikings planned to run, and they did finish with 4 straight wins to get into the playoffs. In any case, if the issue with Harvin started and ended with his contract then I think they would make it work. There are other factors at work here, whether it's his happiness with a coach, medical person, offensive/special teams schemes, or other players on the team doesn't really matter. There is only so much they can do to make him happy.