Coach optimistic on Winfield contract

Vikings coach Brad Childress said the team has had "pretty good dialogue" with the agent for Pro Bowl cornerback Antoine Winfield, who is entering the final season of his six-year, $35 million contract.

Speaking Wednesday at the NFL owners meeting in Dana Point, Calif., Childress said the team hopes to sign Winfield to a new contract before he's allowed to test the free-agent market next winter.

"It's ongoing and we'd like to get him done," Childress said. "With the uncertain future and the [collective bargaining agreement] the way it is, I'd like to have it done. It could be one year, it could be two, it could be three. But again, we have a real good dialogue with [agent] Ashanti Webb right now."

Winfield, who turns 32 in June, earned his first Pro Bowl trip in his 10th season. Winfield remains one of the league's best tackling cornerbacks.

Last week, the Vikings signed cornerback Cedric Griffin to a five-year, $25 million contract that includes $10 million in guarantees.

Childress said the team has not decided whether to match the Cincinnati Bengals' offer sheet to restricted free agent fullback Naufahu Tahi. The Vikings have until Friday to make the decision.

"In these economic times rather than take on a burden for an extra week of principle and interest, there's really no merit in jumping out of the box until 11:59:59 if that in fact is what you're going to do," Childress said.

Tahi signed a one-year, $1.4 million offer sheet with the Bengals. The Vikings gave Tahi the low tender of $1.01 million at the start of free agency. The Vikings would get nothing in return if they don't match Cincinnati's offer because Tahi was not drafted out of college.

The Vikings had a quiet free-agency period after being major players last year. The Vikings have signed only two players from other teams -- Broncos cornerback Karl Paymah and Bengals receiver/kick returner Glenn Holt.

"I thought we were very methodical in how we went about it," Childress said. "We re-signed some of our own guys. Some others piqued our interest. It wasn't like we weren't in there swinging with [wide receiver] T.J. Houshmandzadeh. That would have been fairly significant money. We wanted to allocate it the right way and not be crazy about it.

"Last year, we were very active. We signed Bernard Berrian. Call it what you want -- the trade for Jared Allen. We had guys we looked at [this year] and targeted. Some were past our range as we decided whether there was value and is it worth it."

Childress made his first public comments since long-time center Matt Birk signed a free-agent contract with the Baltimore Ravens. It's well-known that Childress and Birk didn't always see eye-to-eye, but Childress said he believes Birk simply wanted a change of scenery after 11 seasons with the team.

"The fact is when someone wants to test the market you can't fight with that, with someone wanting to do something new and different," Childress said. "At this point of his life, that's the spot where he was. He is going to come back to St. Paul after his career, but to get away from family and reach out and spread your wings a little bit, that's something you can't put a dollar figure on. I had no issues with Matt."