MANKATO -- A couple pieces of important news from the opening day of the Vikings training camp.
1) Left tackle Bryant McKinnie has opened camp on the non-football injury list, but coach Leslie Frazier refused to go into specifics of why the move was made.
2) Wide receiver Bernard Berrian agreed to restructure a contract that called for him to make a base salary of $3.9 million this season, with a salary cap number of $6.3 million. He said the contract will now expire after the 2012 season.
The McKinnie item is the most interesting and was revealed on the same day the Vikings signed free-agent offensive lineman Charlie Johnson. Johnson had been the starting left tackle for the Indianapolis Colts.
McKinnie spent Monday's practice working out with right guard Anthony Herrera, who opened camp on the physically unable to perform list. Herrera tore his left anterior cruciate ligament last season and then this offseason underwent surgery to repair a triceps muscle.
The reserve/non-football injury list means that McKinnie was not hurt in a Vikings practice or game. Players are allowed to come off the list at any point in camp, but their pay (and bonuses) can be withheld. McKinnie is due a $500,000 roster bonus and $250,000 workout bonus this season. His base salary is $4.9 million for this season.
McKinnie and Frazier both had little to say on the subject. McKinnie said he just had "some issues." When asked if his conditioning was the issue, McKinnie said: "My conditioning would help me get better." He would not say if he had suffered an injury.
Frazier said he would be able to get into more details about McKinnie in the coming days. "We've got to be able to get a little more information," he said. Asked if McKinnie's weight is where the Vikings wanted, Frazier would only say that the team is working on that. The 6-foot-8 McKinnie is listed at 335 pounds and has struggled with weight issues in the past.
