vikings/nfl
Dan Wiederer began covering the Vikings in 2011, enthusiastically delivering insight on the team across the Star Tribune's print and digital products. Prior to joining the Access Vikings team, he spent seven seasons covering ACC basketball at The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer. He also covered the Chicago Bears in 2003 and 2004. Follow him on Twitter @StribDW.
Mark Craig has covered football and the NFL the past 20 years, including the Browns from 1991-95 and the Vikings and the NFL since 2003. Since 2008, Craig has served as one of the 44 Pro Football Hall of Fame selectors. He can be followed on Twitter at @markcraignfl.
Posts about The draft
Vikings' newcomer Jennings: 'I can definitely still do it'
Posted by: Mark Craig Updated: March 15, 2013 - 8:21 PM
In search for receiving help, what about Greg Childs?
Posted by: Dan Wiederer Updated: March 14, 2013 - 11:23 AMYes, we know. We’ve really spent a lot of time drilling home the reality that the Vikings’ receiving corps is depleted right now. At present, the receivers under contract are Jerome Simpson, Jarius Wright and Stephen Burton. That’s the trio that actually played in a game last season. There’s also Chris Summers, who was on the team’s practice squad.
And that brings us to the one question so many fans are wondering about: What about Greg Childs, a seemingly promising talent who spent his rookie season on Injured Reserve?
You’ll remember Childs was a fourth-round pick a year ago, once a rising star at the University of Arkansas whose college career was derailed in October 2010 when he tore the patellar tendon in his right knee. The recovery time from that injury was slow. Childs returned in 2011 but was highly limited, totaling only 21 catches for 240 yards and zero scores for the enitre season.
But the Vikings saw enough flash, enough potential, enough promise to take a gamble on Childs in last year’s draft. And at times throughout OTAs, mini-camp and training camp, Childs displayed the blend of size, body control and sure hands that justified the Vikings’ hopes.
Said coach Leslie Frazier last August: “His size stands out. To have a big receiver who can run as well as he can and having the catching radius that he has gives you a belief that even when people have decent coverage, because of his size and ability to catch balls in tough spots, he has big-play potential.”
But then came the setback. A major one at that.
In the final minutes of a team scrimmage in training camp, Childs dove for a pass in the end zone and wound up rupturing the patellar tendons in both his left and right knees. It was a major injury and a disheartening setback. The 22-year-old receiver has since attacked his rehabilitation with great effort and positive energy. But the fact remains that a return to full health from injuries that severe registers somewhere between questionable and doubtful. In a league, where every fraction of a second, every little bit of burst matters, Childs has a long road back to even consider being a significant factor as an NFL receiver.
If it took him upwards of 18 months to feel right again after his college knee injury, what’s the realistic timetable of getting him back up to speed with two knees to work on and worry about?
To make a long story short, the Vikings have outside hopes that Childs can still be a part of their plans. But it’s far too early to count on that. And so as they go through the offseason with free agency and the draft, the only sensible way to approach business is with the worst-case scenario in mind: that Childs’ unfortunate injuries will keep him from being a major part of the equation at any point in 2013 or beyond.
Could Vikings be keeping tabs on Brian Urlacher?
Posted by: Dan Wiederer Updated: March 13, 2013 - 9:36 PMIt’s no secret that the Vikings need help in their linebacking corps. Yes, the team brought Erin Henderson back Tuesday, signing him to a two-year deal. But there’s still a void up the middle of the defense. And last year’s starter, Jasper Brinkley, spent Wednesday in New York with the Giants and was then off to visit with Arizona, according to USA Today’s Mike Garafolo.
So where might the Vikings be turning next to solidify the middle of their defense? A report this evening from Mike Mulligan in the Chicago Tribune says the Vikings could be at least window shopping as Urlacher looks to find a team with which to play his 14th season.
Writes Mulligan:
Urlacher is looking for a deal in the range of the $5.5 million Ray Lewis earned in his last season with the Ravens, a source said. It's unlikely the Bears would pay that type of money and not responding to the offer may be a less-than-subtle way of avoiding an embarrassing negotiation.
Urlacher can't be thrilled but Emery does not believe Urlacher feels slighted by "the process," something the GM vowed to avoid when he last talked about the subject last month.
Is Urlacher interested in wearing purple or is he just trying to create a market?
Urlacher has been a fixture in Chicago since the Bears drafted him with the ninth overall pick in 2000. He’s an eight-time Pro Bowler and a future Hall of Famer. But he’s also about to turn 35, in the twilight of his career, missed four games last season with a hamstring injury and doesn’t exactly seem to fit the vision Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman has for building his roster.
Spielman continues to talk about building through the draft while making a few practical, good-fit investments in free agency. Urlacher would seem like an odd piece to the puzzle under that plan, a mere quick fix for a team that would likely prefer to find a longer-term solution. Sure, he might have some game left and would need little time to get up to speed with the Vikings’ defensive system.
But a day after letting 35-year-old cornerback Antoine Winfield go as a means of saving $7.25 million, it would seem odd to turn around and deliver a major contract to Urlacher.
Perhaps the Vikings are keeping themselves in the talks for Urlacher as a means of stretching Chicago GM Phil Emery’s financial plans a little thinner. Emery and the Bears, after all, showed significant interest in right tackle Phil Loadholt as free agency neared. And in a determined effort to keep Loadholt, the Vikings needed to deliver a four-year $25 million deal.
That's a small part of the game during free agency -- looking for ways to get better while also scheming for ways to put stress on division rivals.
The Antoine Winfield exit: How and why it all went down
Posted by: Dan Wiederer Updated: March 13, 2013 - 11:08 AMIt’s a cold-hearted business sometimes, this NFL.
And if we all didn’t have a true understanding of that concept already, Tuesday provided another eye-opening example.
Cornerback Antoine Winfield had gone to the Vikings’ facility, per his usual routine, to work out. He had no way of knowing that would be his last trip into the building. About an hour before free agency opened, as the Vikings sorted through some complex financial discussions, Winfield became just a number.
Two numbers really.
- $7.25 million – what he was set to earn in 2013, a figure that could be cleared from under the Vikings’ salary cap if Winfield was released before the new league year opened at 3 p.m. Tuesday.
- 1977 – Winfield’s birth year, which will make him 36 years old when next season begins.
In decisive form, General Manager Rick Spielman made a business move, void of emotion. He summoned Winfield upstairs and told him he was cut. The awkwardness of that move and the confusion it created for one of the most beloved players in franchise history is detailed in our story from last night. We suggest you give that a read and soak it in.
But to understand the maneuver from a business standpoint, it must be noted that Spielman and the front office were active Tuesday in re-signing several of their own players. A half-dozen of them in all. Most notably: right tackle Phil Loadholt and fullback Jerome Felton. Loadholt reportedly inked a deal worth $25 million over four years. Felton was given a $7.5 million contract over three years.
The Vikings also rewarded linebacker Erin Henderson, safety Jamarca Sanford, receiver Jerome Simpson and offensive lineman Joe Berger by keeping them around.
Spielman’s vision for the future forces him to make such tough decisions. As this week goes on, and really as the Vikings’ plow ahead from now through the end of the draft in April, they will do so with a plan. And then a Plan B. And Plans C, D, E and F.
“This is a very fluid business,” Spielman noted Tuesday.
And so even the GM acknowledged the conflicting emotions of such a busy day.
“When you have to make tough business decisions, it makes it extremely hard. One minute you’re elated because you got Phil Loadholt done and the next minute you don’t feel as good because you had to do something with Winfield, which makes this job extremely, extremely difficult.”
What made Winfield’s release all the more confusing for the cornerback and his agent is the lack of discussions that preceded it. At no point, during the league’s 87-hour negotiating window from Saturday through Tuesday where teams and agents could be in contact, was there any hint that Winfield could soon be on the street. No one from the Vikings front office even proposed a pay cut or contract restructuring.
Winfield and his agent knew, in this league, that’s always a possibility. But they didn’t expect, after nine seasons of service, that in the snap of two fingers, a loyal locker room leader would have a trap door opened beneath him.
Sure, the Vikings had talked with Winfield’s agent, Ashanti Webb, at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis three weeks earlier. And yes, in passing, the Vikings had mentioned just generally that Winfield’s $7.25 million salary could catch their eye as free agency nears. But, according to Webb, the conversations in Indy were casual, informal. No specific proposals were drawn up. And none were offered Tuesday when Winfield was released.
Spielman was asked if he had offered Winfield a chance to stick around at a lower cost.
“I don’t want to get into the details of it,” he said. “It was just a very, extremely hard decision to make but hopefully we’ll be able to keep the door open for him.”
Four days before free agency began, I had approached an NFL source to ask whether the Vikings had been in contact about a contract restructuring. They hadn’t, the source told me. And even if they did, it wasn’t something Winfield was going to consider.
Said the source: “The way he played last year? Please. You need to look at the game film and not the birth certificate. The only way Antoine is taking a pay cut next season is if the NFL decides to suddenly up its AARP taxes.”
So who knows what would have happened had restructuring discussions come up between Spielman and Webb? The fact is, for three weeks leading up to free agency, that possibility was never brought up. It led to a very unceremonious end of a terrific Vikings career.
By late Tuesday afternoon, as you might imagine, calls inquiring about Winfield’s availability were pouring in. The message was made clear. Even if Winfield’s days as a Vikings were over, his career is not. He fully intends to play next season. And, if 2012 is any indication, he can still play at a high level.
Spielman repeatedly noted Tuesday that he would leave the door open for a possible reunion with Winfield in the weeks or months ahead. What would that take?
“We’ll just have to see,” Spielman said.
He shall see just how much other teams value Winfield’s service. He shall see if the manner in which Tuesday’s transaction went down will leave Winfield itching for a new home. By all accounts, amid the awkwardness and confusion, Winfield handled Tuesday’s business with his characteristic professionalism and positive energy. On the way out the door, the Vikings encouraged Winfield to keep in contact and to report back to them with any numbers that might be out there for him in free agency.
It now becomes one of the more interesting subplots around the NFL.
Spielman 'leaves door open' to Winfield returning
Posted by: Mark Craig Updated: March 12, 2013 - 5:54 PMADVERTISEMENT
recent posts
- Adrian Peterson delivers ear-catching remark on gay marriage
- With contract issues on hold, Jared Allen aiming to have big 2013
- Brian Urlacher retires, assuring he won't be Vikings middle linebacker
- NFL calendar change could push draft into May, combine into March
- Vikings' Chris Kluwe to sign with Oakland Raiders
- Vikings sign three more draft choices; only first-rounders left
- Hold off on buying that Urlacher jersey ...
- Vikings sign three draft picks; Chuck Muncie dies; Urlacher "rumored" to Vikings ...
- Access Vikings blog: ESPN's Bayless, Smith debate whether Ponder was as responsible for playoff run as Peterson (really)
- Bar to be higher for Ponder, lower for Peterson in 2013
- Dayton, PTI hosts question Vikings over Kluwe cut
- Vikings sign Mankato receiver Adam Thielen, tackle Brandon Keith
- Vikings make it official: Punter Chris Kluwe has been cut
- Vikings searching for best development plan for Cordarrelle Patterson
- Rookie Locke could have punter's job locked up by Monday
- Erin Henderson stepping into new role with 'more lead in my pencil'
- Ponder talks: Cassel, Harvin and a scary visit to the emergency room
- Vikings announce signings of 16 undrafted free agents
Post By Category
- Adrian Peterson delivers ear-catching remark on gay marriage
- With contract issues on hold, Jared Allen aiming to have big 2013
- Brian Urlacher retires, assuring he won't be Vikings middle linebacker
- Three local firms bid on Vikings stadium parking
- Regents sign off on Vikings, TCF Bank Stadium deal
- Vikings stadium design unveiled
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
inside the StarTribune
-
425 Portland Av. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55488
(612) 673-4000
- Company
- Subscriber Services
- Website
- Buy Ads
- Store
- Connect with Us
© 2013 StarTribune. All rights reserved.
StarTribune.com is powered by Limelight Networks
Newspaper Subscriptions
eEdition
RSS
Newsletters