Joe Berger, starting left guard.
Go ahead and say it.
The Vikings are at peace with that possibility. And with all due respect to Charlie Johnson, a quality person who gave the Vikings all he had for four seasons, Berger is, for now, a satisfactory upgrade at left guard. He should be viewed as the security blanket who allowed the Vikings to add two key defensive starters in the first two rounds of the draft.
That's why General Manager Rick Spielman is quick to correct people who start their left-guard questions with "you didn't do anything at left guard in free agency." Actually, he did. He re-signed Berger, an 11-year veteran with 103 games played and 38 starts combined at center (21), right guard (14) and left guard (three). In 2011, he started at all three spots in the same season.
"He was one of the priorities that we definitely wanted to sign back because of his versatility, because of his experience," Spielman said. "We are going to have a very young group of guys coming up behind him, but the one guy that we really wanted to target to keep on our roster from our own UFA's was Joe Berger."
Access Vikings: startribune.com/vikings
