It was one tweet on Tuesday night that made the announcement. With that tweet, and assumingly a conversation before that, Minnesota fullback Jerome Felton announced that he had declined his option for the 2015 NFL season and plans to become a free agent when the new league year begins. That move kicked off what will surely be a flurry of transactions between now and the end of March that will shape the Vikings roster for years to come.
Looking ahead at the rest of the Vikings restricted and unrestricted free agent class, I began to ask myself, who would be the biggest loss from these potential free agents?
Most of the list is made up of players like Josh Samuda and Dom DeCicco, but looking towards the top of the list above, sorted by salary, you'll see a handful of players with more recognizable names.
Before we get to the top, let's sort through the mid-range options. In this range we're talking Joe Berger, Vladimir Ducasse and Mike Harris. Funny enough, we're looking at all offensive linemen and all guys who we had a decent opportunity to see last year after all of the injuries.
At 32 years of age, Joe Berger will likely bring the highest price tag and highest priority among the middle group due to his flexibility and what he has proven on the field. Berger, the team's backup guard and center has been with the Vikings since 2011 after being waived by the Dolphins midseason. The team will likely have to put some priority on Mike Harris as well given their lack of depth at the tackle position. Harris got some run last year due to injuries and proved adequate but did not overly impress. Odd man out here, Vlad Ducasse.
Moving up a tick, we see Christian Ponder, Jerome Felton, Corey Wootton, Cullen Loeffler, Tom Johnson and Jasper Brinkley. Felton already announced his decision to leave, the writing is on the wall for Ponder so that leaves four other names for us to sift through and determine who would be the biggest loss for this team.
The man who ended Brett Favre's career, Corey Wootton, doesn't have a whole lot to hang his hat on after a 1 sack, 11 tackle season for the Vikings last year. With Shamar Stephen and Sharrif Floyd holding down at the nose, Wootton's opportunity would be backing up Linval Joseph. But the current pricetag of $1.7 million might be a bit high.
Cullen Loeffler is an odd situation. First off, he's a long snapper. It's an integral position but high paid veteran long snappers are few and far between. Loeffler is the longest tenured Minnesota Viking so he would likely take a bit of a "hometown" discount but even if he were to walk, even at a specialty position he would be understandably replaceable.
