Hartman: With NFL's new salary cap, the Vikings will find a way

For 10 years Rob Brzezinski has been the man who signs most of the Vikings players and handles the salary cap.

But Brzezinski, one of the best in the business, never has faced a challenge like this year with such a short time to try to sign the team's own free agents, free agents from other teams, undrafted free agents who are needed to fill the 90-man roster expected in camp Monday, and, last but not least, the Vikings' draft choices.

"Well, we do have a lot going on, but we've had a long time to prepare for it, and so we have a plan in place and we're excited about executing it," said Brzezinski. "We have a lot of really good football players, and we're proud of that, and we're excited about this season. We're going to do everything we can do to retain our core players and add some additional players to fulfill our goal of winning a Super Bowl championship."

While the Vikings started out this week some $5 million over the salary cap under the NFL's new collective bargaining agreement, Brzezinski is confident the Vikings will meet all of the challenges and be able to put a good team on the field.

"We have enough flexibility in our plan to make sure that our team is competitive and do the things we need to do to get better and have a very bright future for the Vikings," said Brzezinski.

The past two years saw differing rules in the salary cap in the NFL, and this year adds another twist. There wasn't any salary cap last year, so the Vikings weren't bound by those constraints in filling out their roster. The last capped year was 2009 when the salary cap was $128 million, but this year it's $120 million plus another $3 million you can use for veterans, so essentially $123 million.

The Vikings had 15 of their own unrestricted free agents going into this year, but the only high-priority ones were kicker Ryan Longwell, whom they have signed, and Sidney Rice, who they didn't think was worth the five-year, $41 million contract, with $18 million guaranteed, that he got from Seattle.

Brzezinski was asked how he can keep high-salaried players, including the free agents, and still stay within the cap.

"Well, for players [whose contracts are about to] expire, like in the case of Adrian Peterson being on the last year of his deal [in 2011], the club could elect, if the player was interested, to extend that contract, put additional years on it."

So if the Vikings wanted to increase their cap space this season, a star player such as Peterson could rework his contract and make a lesser base amount in 2011, but by signing a contract extension he would be compensated very well over a longer period of time and become one of the highest-paid players in the NFL.

There's also Chad Greenway, who is the Vikings' franchise player, which currently allows him to be paid $10 million in 2011.

But like the case of Peterson, the Vikings will try to work out a long-term contract for Greenway where he won't get $10 million this year but will make up for it with additional money over a long period of time, lessening the cap hit this year.

As for the draft choices, the days are over when a top draft choice such as the Rams' Sam Bradford can sign a $50 million contract.

"There's a system in place," said Brzezinski. "There's a pool of money that we have available to pay our rookies, and we're going to work within that system to get a contract. It's dependent upon how many draft picks you have and where they're picked. It's not a wage scale, it's not like player 24 gets this amount of money. It's still subject to negotiation."

Well, one thing about the Vikings under the Wilf family is they never have held back on spending money to sign players, and even with salary constraints under the new CBA, they will continue to operate like they always have.

And they have two of the best executives in the NFL in Rick Spielman and Brzezinski to get that done.

Jottings• The Vikings will definitely bring back nose tackle Pat Williams if they can sign him for the right price. However, the days of free-agent defensive end Ray Edwards being a Viking are over. One quarterback the Vikings didn't have any interest in was Vince Young, whom current Vikings quarterback coach Craig Johnson coached last year with Tennessee. The Titans released Young on Thursday.

• It's amazing that the Cowboys would cut Marion Barber. But that is what the salary cup does to teams. The former Gopher signed a seven-year contract in 2008 that called for $45 million and $16 million guaranteed, and $12 million of it was paid as a signing bonus. If Barber had stayed with the Cowboys through the length of the contract (through 2014), he would have made $25 million more. But don't worry, some team will pick him up and he will make it a lot of money.

• The Des Moines Register this week reported that former Gopher and current Iowa State Cyclone Royce White averaged a triple-double in the YMCA Capital City League, a yearly tournament composed of former and current collegiate basketball players held in Iowa. White averaged 24 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists per game. It was the first time in the history of the league that a player averaged a triple-double.

• Former DeLaSalle and Iowa State standout running back Alexander Robinson signed with the Vikings on Thursday. Robinson left Iowa State as its fourth all-time leading rusher with 3,309 yards in four seasons.

• Former Twin Johan Santana continues his long rehabilitation from shoulder surgery for the New York Mets, but the Cy Young winner took a big step Thursday when he pitched in a minor league game with the St. Lucie Mets. Santana struck out three Daytona Cubs in three innings and did not allow a run.

• Ex-Gophers Ryan Potulny and Jim O'Brien, who helped the Ottawa Senators' Binghamton team to a victory over the Wild's Houston team in the American League championship, will have a good chance to play in the NHL this season.

• Former Gopher Michael Kvasnicka is showing nice improvement at the plate this season for Class A Lexington in the Houston Astros organization, hitting .280 with three home runs, 22 doubles, 46 RBI, 45 runs scored and five stolen bases. He has had some trouble making the transition from the outfield to third base, though, committing a team-high 22 errors in 93 games.

Seth Rosin, the former Gophers pitcher, has posted a 3.70 ERA in 26 games, including 10 starts, for Class A Augustana in the San Francisco Giants organization. He has allowed a mere two home runs in 73 innings pitched and has 70 strikeouts to just 25 walks.

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. and on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. shartman@startribune.com.