Johnson, Booty, Sullivan sign

By CHIP SCOGGINS, Star Tribune

Last update: July 24, 2008 - 7:00 AM

Print this story

More from Vikings

MANKATO - The Vikings made sure they had no rookie absences at the start of training camp by signing their remaining three draft picks hours before the team reported Wednesday.

The team signed safety Tyrell Johnson (second round), quarterback John David Booty (fifth round) and center John Sullivan (sixth round) all to four-year contracts.

Johnson received a signing bonus around $1.5 million. His base salary starts at $295,000 this year and will total around $1.7 million over four years. He also gets a one-time incentive bonus of $600,000 if he is on the field for 35 percent of the defensive snaps this season or 45 percent in 2009.

Johnson said it was important to him to get the deal done before the team reported.

"The most important thing was to come in and go through the things with my team," he said. "Grunt and grind just like they have to. I'm not one of those guys who sits out a long time for money. I'm happy with what I get."

Booty received a signing bonus around $205,000. He also received a base salary starting at $295,000 this season and escalating to $555,000 in the final season. Sullivan received a signing bonus of about $96,000 with a similar base salary structure as the other two.

McKinnie update

Left tackle Bryant McKinnie said he had no update on the status of his criminal case in Miami or whether he will be punished further by the NFL.

"Right now I'm just worried about camp until I get further notice," he said.

McKinnie, who has pleaded not guilty to four charges stemming from a brawl outside a Miami nightclub, has a court date Sept. 24. His attorney, Larry Kerr, has asked the state of Florida to allow McKinnie to enter a pretrial diversion program that could lead to the charges being dismissed. Kerr said this week that he has not received an answer yet. McKinnie also is subject to disciplinary measures from the NFL as a repeat offender of the league's conduct policy.

More Favre speculation

The Green Bay Packers have no intention of allowing Brett Favre to play for the Vikings, but some have speculated on whether the quarterback could end up in Minnesota as part of a three-team trade.

One hypothetical: The Packers deal Favre to an AFC team and that club then trades him to the Vikings. However, there has been further speculation the Packers could insert a "poison pill" of sorts that would substantially increase the compensation a team would need to send Green Bay if Favre is quickly dealt to an NFC North club.

"I think they could put a clause in prohibiting [a team] from trading him for a specific amount of time," said Floyd Reese, former general manager of the Tennessee Titans and current ESPN analyst. "I'm not sure they could put something in that if in fact another team traded him to Minnesota, the Packers would get a first- and second-round pick or something like that [from the other team]. It would be interesting to see how the NFL looked at that. I'm not sure they would allow that clause."

A league spokesman declined to say whether any type of stipulation could be possible, saying in an e-mail: "I can't evaluate hypothetical trades. Terms of a trade are reviewed after the clubs submit them. If there is a problem, we discuss it with the clubs."

Staff writer Judd Zulgad contributed to this report.