And we're back! After a brief sabbatical, it's time to once again spew forth opinions, observations and speculation from our little VikesCentric corner of the interweb. A lot has transpired since I last checked in so here are a few quick thoughts on the happenings of the last few weeks before we look ahead:

Cris Carter made the Hall of Fame. Finally. Only seven players have ever scored more touchdowns and no player ever displayed better hands. On stats and ability alone he should have received his call to the Hall on the first or second ballot. Mick Tinglehoff deserves to be the next Vikings great to gain enshrinement… more on him in a future VikesCentric post. Adrian Peterson was appropriately honored as NFL MVP and then underwent surgery for a sports hernia, adding yet another exclamation point to the absurdity of his accomplishments. It's not too soon to be talking about him as one of the all-time greatest running backs. He's 4,000 yards (two years?) away from cracking the top-eight all-time rushing leaders. Also, let's put a quick end to the Chris Johnson vs. Adrian Peterson talk before it goes any further. NFL Network and other media types have tried in the last 24 hours to stir the pot on that nonsense again, but it needs to stop. My money is on Peterson rushing for 2,500 yards before Johnson ever approaches 2,000 again. Speaking of Peterson, he went on KFAN last month and said he wants Percy Harvin to remain a Viking. Leslie Frazier and Rick Spielman have echoed that sentiment. However, it seems Harvin's bipolar relationship with the team might leave them no choice but to deal him away. They should entertain any offers for Percy that come their way. It's a frightening concept for a team so desperately in need of wide receiver help even with Harvin on the roster. However, the Vikings might be better off with the juicy draft picks a Harvin deal could fetch rather than face the likelihood of a holdout as Percy enters the final year of his rookie deal. Harvin is a remarkable talent. But it's pretty clear he's also a malcontent who has no aspirations of playing for Minnesota any longer than he needs to. Call me crazy, but I doubt a franchise tag following the 2013 season would sit well with him. That brings us to March Madness – not the college basketball, office-bracket mania that is about to grip the country. I'm referring to the NFL version of March Madness. The new NFL business year begins March 12. Before then teams have to be under the league's new salary cap. Hence the recent restructured deals for the likes of Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger and DeMarcus Ware. There's a chance Jared Allen could do the same and save the Vikes some cap room in 2013. March 12 also marks the beginning of free agency and opens the door for trades to be made. And that's when the fun (a.k.a. "madness") really starts. Vikings fans who thought the team should pursue a trade with the 49ers for quarterback Alex Smith had their dreams crushed Wednesday when it was reported a deal to send Smith to the Chiefs had been agreed upon. Let's face it, this was a purple pipedream. Now that Smith is on his way to Kansas City in a deal that will become official on March 12, it's likely the Chiefs will opt to release Matt Cassel. There's a better chance of the Vikings going after Cassel than there ever was of them being in on the Alex Smith bidding, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm guessing Cassel lands in Arizona. Besides, the Vikings have made it abundantly clear that Christian Ponder is locked in as the starter and any quarterback competition that takes place in Mankato this summer will be for the backup job. That means Joe Webb is probably on the way out. I'm keeping my ear to the ground for any more Matt Flynn rumors. Seattle is going to trade him and they'll probably only get a fourth or fifth-round draft pick in return. Will the Vikings make a run at a free agent wide receiver like Mike Wallace, Dwayne Bowe or Greg Jennings? Probably not. Spielman is a proponent of building through the draft, not free agency. Thus, I don't expect the Vikings to make a free agency splash. They'll have to pay a lot to hold onto UFA right tackle Phil Loadholt and Pro Bowl fullback Jerome Felton. Beyond that, Vikings fans shouldn't get their hopes up. Does Steve Breaston do anything for you? How about Devery Henderson? Might the Vikings March Madness have more to do with non-player news? The team picked Mortenson Construction a few weeks ago to build their new stadium and a schematic design is expected in March. The team also tweaked their logo a few weeks ago in what could be a precursor to new uniforms. Could new uniforms be unveiled in concert with the stadium design later this month? Are the new uniforms going to have more of a throwback look than the current design? Will they ever bring back the purple pants for road games on more of a permanent basis? These are important matters and inquiring minds want to know. So I asked the Vikings a few weeks ago about the prospect of new uniforms being announced soon and was told politely told the following by a Vikings spokesperson: "We are continuing to work through some additional exciting changes for the fans, but nothing has been finalized at this point. We'll have more on that later in the offseason." I don't know about you, but that tells me there's probably something in the hopper on the uniform front. Then again, that might be just wishful thinking. Will the Vikings' version of March Madness be highlighted by stadium and uniform designs? Is Spielman under-playing the team's free agency plans? Vikings fans might want to step away from the copy machine and put down the college hoops brackets long enough to find out. Bo Mitchell is the VP of Content at SportsDataYou can follow Bo on Twitter at @Bo_Mitchell