The Offseason

The Indianapolis Colts are making sure their 2012 team looks a whole lot different than their 2011 team by cutting many of their top veteran players. Mike Chappell of the Indianapolis Star reports the Colts have cut ties with linebacker Gary Brackett, running back Joseph Addai, tight end Dallas Clark and safety Melvin Bullitt. Many of those cuts are expensive players on the downside of their career, but Bullitt could be worth a look for the Vikings.

Bullitt fits some of the necessary criteria for a young, rebuilding team looking to fill holes like the Vikings. He is only 27 and heading into the prime of his career. He knows the Vikings’ Tampa 2 defense well having played in it with the Colts for his entire five-year career. Bullitt’s history with the Colts could be even more significant for the Vikings whose head coach, Leslie Frazier, is the Colts former defensive coordinator, and new Vikings’ defensive coordinator, Alan Williams, was the Colts’ defensive backs coach for 10 years. And let’s not forget, the secondary is one of the greatest areas of need for the Vikings.

The injury risk is certainly there, and it may be enough to keep the Vikings away. But with Bullitt’s injury risk comes a cheap price and more than likely a willingness to sign a short-term deal—the perfect scenario for a team in rebuilding mode.

As long as his shoulder checks out, look for the Vikings to be making calls for Bullitt’s services.

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Adrian Peterson’s torn ACL/MCL will be go down as the capstone to one of the worst seasons in Vikings franchise history. Time will tell how much that particular play will affect the franchise for years to come depending on how closely Peterson returns to his old form.

But with the recent revelations of Gregg Williams’ bounty program with the Saints, one has to worry how many teams, coaches and players condone this sort of thing in the NFL every day. Even more so, how many of the NFL’s best talents, like Peterson, have fallen victim to a bounty hit.

We all know Chris Kluwe’s thoughts on the matter, but it seems he’s in the minority. Many of the NFL’s former players have come out and spoken publically of the acceptance of bounty programs. One of those players, Alan Faneca, former All-Pro guard for the Pittsburgh Steelers, wasn’t surprised to hear the news.

“It’s a violent game we play. Whether people want to think about it or not, part of the game is to exert physical dominance over your opponent,” Faneca said via the Associated Press. “If it results in a guy not finishing the game, then that’s what happened in the course of playing the game.”

Kurt Warner, former two-time MVP quarterback and victim of the Saints bounty program, seemed to shrug it off.

“I think you’re crazy if you think that there weren’t defensive linemen that sat at their locker before the game, saying, ‘Hey, I’m buying dinner if we knock somebody out first,’” said Warner. “Those kind of things have been around our game for a long time.”

A number of current players took to Twitter to give their perspective on bounties and the feelings were similar.

“Why is this a big deal now? Bounties been going on forever,” tweeted Shawne Merriman, who maintains that he was targeted and sustained a career-altering injury.

“It’s a league thing,” Falcons wide receiver Roddy White tweeted. “But it’s about to end because of the Saints story.”

 

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To all those dreaming of bringing DeSean Jackson in to join forces with Percy Harvin, keep dreaming. The Philadelphia Eagles officially placed their franchise tag on Jackson, guaranteeing that they will either keep him for another year or get a bundle of draft picks in exchange for his services.

“We want DeSean to be an Eagle for the long haul, and this is a step in the right direction to accomplish that,” said Eagles G.M. Howie Roseman via Profootballtalk.com. “DeSean is a talented player and a proven playmaker in this league, and we look forward to him continuing his career in Philadelphia. It’s our understanding that he has the same desire. We will continue our efforts on getting a long-term deal done with him.”

It comes as no surprise the Eagles franchised their diva wide receiver. He is extremely talented, and they need to insure that they will either keep him catching touchdowns in Philly or get a slew of talented young rookies in return.

This, of course, doesn’t mean the Eagles will keep Jackson, or even that they intend to, regardless of what Roseman says. Jackson’s “me first” attitude has been well documented in Philly, and it would be no surprise to see him traded to the highest bidder (if there is one).

But make no mistake, it won’t be the Vikings. Rick Spielman has never been a fan of giving up draft picks, and after the Randy Moss incident in 2010, there is no way the Vikings will be making any sort of run at a player who is known for his selfish, diva attitude. Moreover, if Jackson wasn’t happy in Andy Reid’s pass happy offense last year, how would he take being traded to a run-first team with a second-year quarterback? Not well.

So you can cross DeSean Jackson off your potential free agent list. But not to worry, there’s always Peyton Manning.

 

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In the final devastating blow of the woeful 3-13 Vikings season, Adrian Peterson tore the ACL and MCL in his left knee in week 16 against the Washington Redskins. The typical recovery time for torn knee ligaments is about one year, but that is for a normal athlete and Peterson is not just any normal athlete.

Peterson has been making the media rounds since last week and has said he intends to start running on Feb. 28 and ultimately plans be ready for the start of the season.

“Right now my goal is to be back by the first, the regular-season opener,” Peterson said on The Dan Patrick Show on Tuesday. “That’s my goal.”

That would be a recovery time of 8 months. Quite a lofty goal considering a running back, especially one who runs as hard as Peterson, needs full motion of his knees to do his job.

But Peterson is an incredible and hard working athlete whose body allowed him to get on the right path quickly. Less than a week after the injury, the swelling in Peterson’s knee had receded and he had full range of motion back which allowed the doctors to perform the surgery much sooner than expected.

Peterson’s progress has continued that same way. “Right now, I am ahead of schedule,” said Peterson.

Last year was easily Peterson’s worst as a pro. His 2011 season was the first year he failed to rush for less than 1,200 yards, and the first time he didn’t make the Pro Bowl. Injuries including a high ankle sprain and an ACL/MCL tear kept him out of the majority of four games leading to his decline in production, but an aging and mediocre offensive line and a rookie quarterback couldn’t have helped.

Peterson, well known for his excellent work ethic, said he has bumped heads with his physical therapist in Houston who wants to keep Peterson’s expectations grounded.

“He’s making sure I’m doing the right things.” Peterson said. “It feels strong, but he doesn’t want me to push it too much.”

 

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The Kansas City Chiefs have officially announced the signing of former Raider Stanford Routt. But with Routt’s departure from free agency, a new cornerback looks much more likely to hit the open market. Brandon Carr, a KC Chief with an expiring contract, appears to be the odd man out.

There are probably a few reasons the Chiefs made the choice to go with Routt. He fits their man coverage system better than Carr who is more of a zone-coverage back. Carr is also likely to command more money than Routt because he is only 25 to Routt’s 28.

There are a number of quality defensive backs set to hit free agency including: Brent Grimes, Cortland Finnegan, Carlos Rogers, Tracy Porter and Aaron Ross. Carr is probably the best cornerback on that list as well as being the second youngest option by only a few months to Tracy Porter. With the Vikings in desperate need of quality corners, it would be no surprise to see them pursue Carr, who fits in well with the Vikings’ zone-heavy schemes.

However, there will be strong competition for Carr’s services. Teams can always use improved defensive back play, especially new in this pass-happy NFL. One team that may have a strong interest and maybe even an advantage in the Carr sweepstakes is the Detroit Lions. They, like the Vikings, need cornerback help, and Carr grew up in Flint, Mich. Adding to the Lion’s advantage is the presence of defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham, who was Carr’s defensive coordinator in his rookie season of 2008.

The Routt signing will likely also change the free agent wide receiver market. Before it was unclear which free-agent-to-be, WR Dwayne Bowe or Carr, the Chiefs would franchise in order to keep for at least another year. At this point, it is clear Carr is not a candidate for the franchise tag, which means Bowe is the likely recipient. One less free agent diva for us to obsess over.

 

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A crucial date is fast approaching for the Vikings and Minnesota. Wednesday, Feb. 15 is the deadline for the Vikings to request permission from the NFL to speak to other cities about relocating.

That doesn’t mean they will request permission for relocation. But it is a valuable bargaining chip and make no mistake, the Vikings will want to use any bargaining chips they have.

This is one big chess match between the Vikings and the Minnesota Legislature. Unfortunately for the Vikings, the Legislature holds more pieces in the game, and they know it. But the Vikings do hold the ultimate piece, the ability to move.

It is clear, however, that the Vikings don’t want to move. They have had ample opportunities to prepare for a possible relocation, and have let the majority pass them by. Aside from a few empty threats by Lester Bagley, the Vikings have shown no interest in truly considering a move.

It’s telling that the Feb. 15 deadline is so close without any reports of the Vikings contacting the NFL. Seeking permission to explore their possibilities doesn’t commit them to a move by any means. It just gives them a real option to see what is actually available.

At this point, it’s unlikely the Vikings intend to request permission from the NFL. This could be good news for stadium supporters as it may mean that the Vikings believe they are getting close to a deal for a stadium.

On the other side, the Vikings may just be afraid of the public relations nightmare the request could spark. Logistically, it may be too late to have a serious chance at relocating if you’re just starting to look at your options in mid-February. Thus, it would make more sense at this point to just wait it out and see if the Legislature can come up with something this year. That way the Vikings look like they exhausted all efforts before finally conceding that a move was the only possibility left.

It looks like Wednesday will come and go without any fireworks. Let’s just hope it’s because real progress is being made toward a new stadium and not any other reason.

 

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NFL free agency starts on March 13, only 33 days away. So now is the time to dissect our pending free agents. After the resigning of Pat Brown, the Vikings have 17 free agents to be.
Since we’re all Vikings fans and in need of some good news, I’ll start there. There are only four starters on this list: EJ and Erin Henderson, Husain Abdullah, and Visanthe Shiancoe. So not to worry, the team that went 3-13 and tied for the worst record in Vikings history will almost completely return! Oh, wait. Well, it’s news anyway.

In that list of four starters, the only guy I see as a lock for returning is Erin Henderson. With two-thirds of the Vikings’ linebacking core set to be free agents, at least one will need to be resigned. It could get a little awkward if they split up the brothers, but the NFL is a business and Erin is younger and healthier.

Potential Free Agents

Keepers

LB EJ Henderson

LB Erin Henderson

Erin Henderson is probably the most likely to return, he is still young and he was more than serviceable last year. EJ’s body may be breaking down, but there is something to be said about continuity. He has been the Vikings middle linebacker for his entire 9-year career. It may be time to move on, but do we have a replacement?

Maybes

QB Sage Rosenfels

Sage will probably resign, the Vikings want him to be a backup, but he would be a third stringer. Will that be enough for him?

DT Fred Evans

DT Letroy Guion

I would assume the Vikings will want to keep either Fred Evans or Letroy Guion if the asking price is reasonable. They’re both young, quality depth that know the system but have failed to make the most of their opportunities. Pick the most promising or cheapest option and move on.

S Husain Abdullah

The Vikings have made it no secret that they like Husain Abdullah, but one has to worry about his concussion problems. This will be a short term deal at best. Vikings need to get some real safeties.

LB Kenny Onatolu (RFA)

He’s a special teams ace on a very good unit. Vikings will resign him if they can, but will he be affordable and is he still satisfied with special teams?

RB Lorenzo Booker (RFA)

Booker showed some flashes last year. He’s a good change-of-pace back, and no one knows how 28 will perform next year. Booker has had some fumbling problems, and the draft is always loaded with quality young backs in the late rounds.

WR Devin Aromashodu

He’s a drifter. Maybe the Vikings keep Aromashodu because the wide receiving core is that bad, but that would be the only reason.

S Jarrad Page

With the safeties that Vikings have, why not give a young body a chance to compete? The asking price will be low enough.

Doubtfuls

TE Visanthe Shiancoe

Visanthe Shiancoe is getting older and will want to get one last long term contract. I don’t see it coming from the Vikings who have a younger, cheaper and better tight end in Kyle Rudolph. Maybe the Vikings would have thought differently if Bill Musgrave had ever actually incorporated both tight ends into his offense.

CB Benny Sapp

Sapp knows the system, which is why the Vikings brought him back last year, but he showed no reason to keep him around on a bad DB unit. He’s on the wrong side of 30.

OL Scott Kooistra

Kooistra is also on the wrong side of 30 and had a serious neck injury last year. Pat Brown was just signed as a reserve OT. Kooistra is a backup at best and one with a major question mark over his head, why bother?

Goners

LB Xavier Adibi

New addition last year, contributed nothing.

S Tyrell Johnson

Needs a change in scenery, like McDonald’s for instance.

LS Matt Katula

Was only signed because we lost Cullen Loeffler for the season.

WR Greg Camarillo

Old, slow, barely ever saw the field last year.

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I’ll be honest, I really didn’t have a dog in the Super Bowl race until there was 57 seconds left in the game.

I was excited for a Super Bowl rematch, and I was happy that it was a good game, but I couldn’t have cared less who won. Both teams had their goods and bads. Both had won a Super Bowl recently. There was no one to cheer against in this matchup. Sure, maybe you could hate Tom Brady and his perfect everything, or maybe Eli Manning and his…intelligent demeanor. I could even see you hating the Hoodie.

But I was the on the fence. I’ve grown out of my Tom Brady hate (read: envy). And Eli is like your friend’s baby, you don’t have to put up with his antics much, so he’s fine in small doses. And the Hoodie? See: Brady, Tom.

But with 57 seconds left in the game, it was the Hoodie who made me start to cheer. The Giants had just scored the go ahead touchdown to put them up by four points with under a minute left, and only the Hoodie could make them feel like they had just made a mistake.

You see, a few seconds earlier, the Hoodie had called in the play to his defense: let them score. And though no defensive player wants to hear that, it was the right call. It was definitely not a call that most coaches would make given their inherent phobia of scrutiny, but the Hoodie is different. He’s way too great to be worried about what the blathering masses of Monday morning quarterbacks will be saying the next day. The Hoodie made the best decision he could to give his team a chance to win the game.

On December 4, 2011, Vikings coach Leslie Frazier had the exact same choice to make against the Denver Tebows. Denver had driven down to the 4-yard line for first-and-goal with 1:12 remaining in the game. The Vikings, without any timeouts to stop the clock, had two choices: let them score and put the ball in the hands of our offense or keep trying to stop them from scoring a touchdown as they drain the clock down to the last seconds and kick a chip shot field goal. Now technically, I don’t know the exact numbers, but it has to be something like 99.9999999999% of the time, a professional football kicker makes the chip shot field goal (sorry, Ravens!). With that in mind, shouldn’t Frazier have summoned his inner Hoodie and let them score? At least then the Vikings would have had some chance to win the game.

In case you forgot or turned the game off in bitter frustration, let me tell you what happened. Frazier choked all over it. He stuck his tail between his legs and hid behind the “you never want to let another team score” mantra that coaches lacking intestinal fortitude spew at the general public as a way to justify their complete ignorance of the situation.

So with 57 seconds left to go in the Super Bowl, the Patriots let the Giants score and gave themselves the best possible chance to win the game. Suddenly, I had a dog in the race. The Hoodie made the right choice, and I wanted it to pay off for him and his team. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way, but at least the Hoodie, unlike Frazier, gave his team the best chance they had to win.

I can’t decide if I’m more disappointed or less surprised.

On Monday, Jan. 16, reports came out of the Vikings interviewing Alan Williams, the Indianapolis Colts defensive backs coach, for the open defensive coordinator position.

Of course, on Thursday, Jan. 19, we see headlines like this.

I feel like Charlie Brown with the Vikings playing the part of Lucy constantly pulling the football away from my swinging foot.

The ’11 Vikings just finished tied with the ’84 Vikings for the worst record in franchise history. Changes needed to be made, that much was clear.

But could someone tell me how this improves the Vikings?

Fred Pagac was nothing special. He was a linebackers coach turned defensive coordinator because of Leslie Frazier’s promotion. But Pagac did his best. He took a different, much more aggressive approach than Frazier, and it eventually failed because of injuries and a lack of appropriate personnel.

So with Pagac gone, Frazier hired his friend and his clown clone. Alan Williams has been a defensive backs coach for the Colts for 10 years. He and Frazier coached together in 2005 and 2006. They both believe in the Tampa-2 defense.

But there’s a reason Williams sat in the same position with the Colts for a decade: no one, including and especially the Colts (who had a front row seat to his work for 10 years), thought he was worthy of a promotion.

But Frazier’s attempts to get an exciting candidate, like Raheem Morris or Mel Tucker, failed. So Frazier went with a guy he knew he would get, a guy that is much like him. The safe choice. The easy choice.

The wrong choice.

They settled. The Vikings tried to get a couple great candidates and got shot down twice. So they settled for someone who would say yes. Maybe they couldn’t afford another rejection, but they settled for mediocrity.

Coach Frazier, you just wrote a check that Williams simply can’t cash. Enjoy your reunion while it lasts, the unemployment line is only one year away.

The Vikings have finally removed Fred Pagac’s title as defensive coordinator. Which means I don’t have to stumble over how to pronounce his name anymore:

Puh…gack..? No Levi, Pug-itch. Oh, I see! Okay. Puh-jick! Nailed It.

It also means that we will have a new defensive “genius” leading the charge next year.

Side note: I don’t hate Ol’ Pug. In fact, I loved what he did after Childress was fired and Leslie handed him the defense. Pug’s defense was aggressive and performed well. But the aggression was absent this year. Different circumstances, I guess. But the result was much worse. We don’t know what happened behind the scenes, but we can all see the result. Someone had to take the blame. It was Ol’ Pug this time. It’ll be Leslie Frazier next time.

The Vikings started their search by interviewing Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator Mel Tucker and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris. Tucker chose to stay with the Jaguars and Morris went to Washington where he will be a defensive backs coach for the Redskins. The Vikings are also rumored to be interested in Steve Spagnuolo, former head coach of the St. Louis Rams. But multiple reports suggest Spagnuolo wants to return to Philadelphia where he used to coach under Eagles head coach Andy Reid.

The Vikings have offered Pagac a role on the team as the linebackers coach, the position he held before his promotion and the current position held by Mike Singletary. The way I see it, that could mean one of three things: Singletary is being fired the same clumsy way they fired Pagac, Singletary is in line to become the next defensive coordinator for the Vikings or Singletary has another job lined up and has informed the Vikings of their upcoming vacancy.

I see Singletary leaving the Vikings as the most likely scenario. The Vikings aren’t afraid to fill a linebackers coach position that isn’t even open yet, so they are acknowledging that Singletary won’t be in that position next year. Singletary’s linebackers performed well even with the change from a veteran in Ben Leber to a first-time starter in Erin Henderson, so I don’t see Singletary being fired. But if they planned to give Singletary the defensive coordinator position, why would they wait? There would be no reason to drag their feet. So it looks like Singletary has another job lined up, possibly with a team that isn’t in a position to make it official yet, like one of the playoff teams.

The Vikings have plenty of holes, but they are in no rush to make any decisions. Karl Dunbar is gone, Pagac is probably gone, Singletary is either up or out. Looks like we are going to see an entirely different crew of defensive coaches next year. Hope that leads to a better result.