Sunday, March 12, 2006
Time for Vikes to plunge into free agency
It's been a long, frustrating wait for free agency to begin, both recently for the NFL and hisorically for the Vikings. Red McCombs has never been properly castigated for the 2 faced penny pincher he was, publicly squealing "purple pride" and demanding a new stadium, while behind the scenes he was keeping the payroll near the league minimum and refusing to add quality free agents. My favorite moment was when the Vikes signed not one, but 2 back-up D lineman from Miami, Lorenzo Brommel and Kenny Mixon. Last season, they finally added some quality players (Darren Sharper, Pat Williams and Fred Smoot) but there was a catch: Red shipped Randy Moss and his huge salary out of town, and then sold the team for a huge profit before most of the bonuses for the new players kicked in. The new owner promises to pay whatever it takes to build a winner, but he's trying to sell a stadium plan to the public. With a league high 30 million in cap space, we'll get an early look at how serious he is about winning.
The top priorities are QB and LB. Culpepper is seemingly on his way out of town, and Brad Johnson is no more than a stopgap. They should seriously pursue Drew Brees, who would be a great fit for the West Coast Offense. There's not a lot of other appealing options. Josh McCown is the only other FA with upside. The 3 franchised type QB's in the draft will probably be gone by the 5th pick. Matt Schwab, Vick's back-up, would be a good trade candidate, because he's familiar with the WCO. There's a good group of LB's in the draft and we should take one with one of our top 2 picks. We're so weak there that we also need to sign one in FA. There's a lot of big names, like Lavar Arrington, Julian Peterson and Will Witherspoon, but also a lot of depth, including Ben Leber, who has potential but is coming off an injury shortened season.
The secondary priorities are O line, safety and K. Birk will hopefully be back and the youngsters should improve, but with Liewinski and Rosenthal falling off the cliff last year, another starter is nedded. Steve Hutchinson (restricted), Jon Runyan, LeCharles Bentley and Will Shielda are the big names. The Jason Whittle signing isn't sufficient. Corey Chavous is on the way out at SS, and Adam Archuletta or Will Demps would be nice replacements, but they could also find one in the draft. They need a kicker after the last few years of chaos, but shouldn't overspend for Adam Vinaterri. Ryan Longwell, Mike Vanderjagt and Josh Brown (restricted) would be nice alternatives.
They don't need to invest heavily at RB, WR, CB or TE. While Edge would be a nice fit, RB's tend to break down quickly after 5+ years in the league, and the WCO doesn't require a stud RB. Mewelde Moore will actually be a nice fit, if he can stay healthy, and they have depth. Drafting a RB is a strong possibility, but not a priority in my mind. I've heard rumors that Koren Robinson has re-signed, and that Burleson probably is leaving. I would like to see both of them stay, because Troy williamson is still pretty raw, and I have no use for Marcus Robinson and Travis Taylor at this point. I've also heard that they removed the transition tag from Brian Williams, which I think is a mistake. With his fragility and lack of tackling skills, Fred Smoot seems like a better nickel back, but now he'll be forced to start. Jermaine Wiggins should be a nice fit in the WCO, so no problems there. The Vikes are lucky to have their most talented D line since at least the Doleman/Millard days and potentially since the Purple People Eaters of Page/Eller/Marshall. D lineman are always overpaid in FA and overrated in the draft, so this frees them to address their other needs. They have the money to come up with impact players at LB, OL, K and SS. The real test is to see how they handle the QB situation. Given the limited options available, it's probably worth the extra money for a Brees or McCown, even if it means they can't sign a top flight kicker or SS. Of course, if they made peace with Duante for a year, to see how his damaged body and ego fit in with the new regime, they would have money to fill all their needs, and extra time to find or develop his successor.
The top priorities are QB and LB. Culpepper is seemingly on his way out of town, and Brad Johnson is no more than a stopgap. They should seriously pursue Drew Brees, who would be a great fit for the West Coast Offense. There's not a lot of other appealing options. Josh McCown is the only other FA with upside. The 3 franchised type QB's in the draft will probably be gone by the 5th pick. Matt Schwab, Vick's back-up, would be a good trade candidate, because he's familiar with the WCO. There's a good group of LB's in the draft and we should take one with one of our top 2 picks. We're so weak there that we also need to sign one in FA. There's a lot of big names, like Lavar Arrington, Julian Peterson and Will Witherspoon, but also a lot of depth, including Ben Leber, who has potential but is coming off an injury shortened season.
The secondary priorities are O line, safety and K. Birk will hopefully be back and the youngsters should improve, but with Liewinski and Rosenthal falling off the cliff last year, another starter is nedded. Steve Hutchinson (restricted), Jon Runyan, LeCharles Bentley and Will Shielda are the big names. The Jason Whittle signing isn't sufficient. Corey Chavous is on the way out at SS, and Adam Archuletta or Will Demps would be nice replacements, but they could also find one in the draft. They need a kicker after the last few years of chaos, but shouldn't overspend for Adam Vinaterri. Ryan Longwell, Mike Vanderjagt and Josh Brown (restricted) would be nice alternatives.
They don't need to invest heavily at RB, WR, CB or TE. While Edge would be a nice fit, RB's tend to break down quickly after 5+ years in the league, and the WCO doesn't require a stud RB. Mewelde Moore will actually be a nice fit, if he can stay healthy, and they have depth. Drafting a RB is a strong possibility, but not a priority in my mind. I've heard rumors that Koren Robinson has re-signed, and that Burleson probably is leaving. I would like to see both of them stay, because Troy williamson is still pretty raw, and I have no use for Marcus Robinson and Travis Taylor at this point. I've also heard that they removed the transition tag from Brian Williams, which I think is a mistake. With his fragility and lack of tackling skills, Fred Smoot seems like a better nickel back, but now he'll be forced to start. Jermaine Wiggins should be a nice fit in the WCO, so no problems there. The Vikes are lucky to have their most talented D line since at least the Doleman/Millard days and potentially since the Purple People Eaters of Page/Eller/Marshall. D lineman are always overpaid in FA and overrated in the draft, so this frees them to address their other needs. They have the money to come up with impact players at LB, OL, K and SS. The real test is to see how they handle the QB situation. Given the limited options available, it's probably worth the extra money for a Brees or McCown, even if it means they can't sign a top flight kicker or SS. Of course, if they made peace with Duante for a year, to see how his damaged body and ego fit in with the new regime, they would have money to fill all their needs, and extra time to find or develop his successor.
