Over at Grantland, Bill Barnwell has put together his "all-bargain" team for the NFL this season -- players who are overperforming their contracts, essentially, which is a huge deal in any salary cap league but particularly the NFL. Finding affordable talent to go with higher-priced key players is pretty much the model for success. This is proven by Barnwell's list of 22 players -- 11 on each side of the ball, of course.
Of those 22 players, 21 of them are playing for teams that have records of at least .500. Three of them play for Denver, all of them on either the offensive or defensive line, where bargains are absolute cap-savers.
The only player on a sub-.500 team is Rashad Jennings, the Raiders running back.
Barnwell notes that players on their first pro contracts are not mentioned on the list, which seems fair. Those guys are slotted into certain contracts, so of course Russell Wilson is a bargain (for now).
Since Jennings is the only player on a losing team listed, there are obviously no Vikings among the 22. That doesn't necessarily HAVE to change in the coming years if the Vikings are going to be consistent winners, but it sure would help. Minnesota sports are dotted with great bargain stories -- Cris Carter claimed off waivers for $100, Johan Santana in the Rule V Draft -- and everybody loves getting more for less.
