So earlier Monday, I tweeted, "Why is anyone even talking about Antonio Brown and the Vikings?"
That was probably a bit disingenuous because I know why: It's a fun thing to banter about. It's February. Any time a quality (and in this case great) player is available via trade, it's fun to wonder if that guy might wind up on your team.
The Timberwolves did NOT help things (again, harmless fun) by tweeting a picture of Brown in a Wolves uniform.
Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes picked a flame thrower instead of a fire extinguisher (again, still having fun) with a tweet welcoming Brown to Minnesota last week.
The thought of Brown in purple is tantalizing. Brown, Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen all running routes for the same team? And he wears No. 84?
PRINT THIS GENERATION'S VERSION OF THE THREE-DEEP POSTER. LET'S GO!
So look, I'm not here to ruin anyone's good time. You are entitled to your Antonio Brown fantasy. But let's be clear: It is purely a fantasy.
The Vikings are already in a spot where they will need to make tough roster decisions simply to maintain status quo on defense, let alone make the necessary upgrades to the offensive line. They aren't in salary cap purgatory, but they need to stretch their dollars.
The Vikings also already have two excellent wide receivers, and while they could sure use a quality third to complement those two it probably doesn't have to be an all-pro who will turn 31 before next season starts and has a $22 million cap hit in 2019.
And let's not forget: The Vikings have a head coach who loves defense almost as much as he dislikes not running the ball enough.
Most of you seem to understand all this, which restores my faith in humanity.
And if you can separate fantasy from reality, by all means resume your Antonio Brown dream. A lot of things that will never happen are still fun to think about.
