The Official Vikings Offseason Thread!

[FISHINGURU]

thats the best news i've heard in a long time! lets just hope we don't start the season with another 50 yr old qb with no mobility.

it should be interesting to see what qb we pick up in free agency or trade....if we don't sign asomugha it would be nice to get tj whosyourmomma....i'd be surprised if we signed any of the top free agents this year but you never know with the zigmeister.

[Scott K]

I think the Vikings will be agressive in free agency again this year. I think they learned that they need to get a good qb in here and I believe they will not sit back and watch!

[FISHINGURU]

forsure they will go after a qb...even chilly is gonna take his blindfold off and see we need a qb...but none of the qb's out there are considered top free agents...i'd say the top 3 out there this year are asomugha, haynesworth and tj...it would be sweet to get 1 of those players.

get one of those players....pick up a decent qb in free agency/trade....then draft away at O-line or whatever positions we didn't cover in free agency....that would be primo.

[Scott K]

The salary cap for 09 is $124 million. Here are what all the teams pay rolls are.

Cardinals 84 million.

Lions 85 million.

Buccaneers 86 million.

Chiefs 86 million.

Eagles 93 million.

Titans 93 million.

Bengals 95 million.

Packers 95 million.

Bills 98 million.

Dolphins 101 million.

Falcons 101 million.

Texans 101 million.

Seahawks 103 million.

Bears 104 million.

Ravens 104 million.

Steelers 105 million.

Vikings 105 million.

Broncos 107 million.

Chargers 107 million.

Panthers 108 million.

Rams 109 million.

Jaguars 110 million.

49ers 111 million.

Giants 112 million.

Browns 113 million.

Raiders 116 million.

Patriots 119 million.

Cowboys 121 million.

Jets 125 million.

Colts 128 million.

Saints 130 million.

Redskins 131 million.

We have some money to spend, we just need to do it wisely!!

[FISHINGURU]

yeah we have plenty of money to spend, can't wait to see who our new qb is gonna be.

still chanting asomugha over here lol...we need that true shutdown corner out there.

[koonie]

Don't hold your breath on scrabble! We'll likely spend our money on a right tackle, center or a younger mid range corner. Also, there have been some serious rumblings about a big play for a quarterback. That would likely come via a trade though.

I think if Stafford or Sanchez(most likely Sanchez) fall out of the top 10 in the draft that the Vikes will trade up between 12-16, just ahead of the Jets, and pick Sanchez. This all depends on weather or not Detroit picks a quarterback number one. This probably won't help for the 2009 season, but could easily be our quarterback for the next 10 years "IF" he is well coached.

[Wadinator]

...."IF" he is well coached.

In that case, any QB we draft is s c r e w e d.

[koonie]

Pretty much.

I'm kinda hoping chilly could do more with Sanchez than he did with Tjack. Sanchez is 10x the prospect Jackson was. Much more talent and more of a prospect than a project.

[FISHINGURU]

man that blows...asomugha re-signed with oakland.

well with that out of the way....LETS GO HAYNESWORTH!!!! LOL

this is just for fun but imagine if we converted k-will to DE and had fat pat and haynesworth in the middle with jared on the other end lol.

[Wadinator]

Ugh...

TJack looking lost

Frerotte looking dazed

Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress s...starting QB job

[FISHINGURU]

OUCH...that picture gives me sore eyes!

[BrianLucky13]

LOL!!!

[Sandmannd]

I'M BLIND!!!!!!!!!!

[FISHINGURU]

i think the football forum is in the calm before the storm.

can't wait until free agency kicks off.

[koonie]

The combine is going on right now which is interesting. The draft prospects are putting on a show to try and move up the draft board.

Free agency is going to be quick as there aren't many quality players available. Should be interesting.

[FISHINGURU]

i been watchin it...some prospects are putting on a show to try moving down the board too lol.

[Scott K]

Quote:

The Houston Chronicle reports that the Vikings are on the verge of acquiring Sage Rosenfels from the Texans in exchange for a fourth-round pick.

This trade was nearly made last year, but Houston balked when the Vikes offered only a third-round choice. The Texans wanted a second-rounder. Rosenfels, 31 in March, would immediately become the favorite to start in Minnesota if the deal is completed. The aggressive passer is considered a strong fit for the West Coast offense coach Brad Childress

[FISHINGURU]

i'd welcome sage..at this point anything is better then what we got..get him for a 4th and cheap then spend a bunch of money on some free agent studs....like TJ whosyourmomma.

we should take one of the oline studs in the 1st round.

its just a real bad year to be shopping for qb's this season.

[Scott K]

Quote:

Free agent C Matt Birk told the AP that he's had "encouraging" talks with the Vikings about a new contract.

Neither side wants this union to end, but it'll come down to a money matter. Birk made roughly $6 million last year and may not want to take any less.

I would like to see them work out some deal. Matt's a stand up guy, and would be to bad to lose him as a citizen of MN, as well as a member of the Vikings.

[Sandmannd]

Quote:

Free agent C Matt Birk told the AP that he's had "encouraging" talks with the Vikings about a new contract.

Neither side wants this union to end, but it'll come down to a money matter. Birk made roughly $6 million last year and may not want to take any less.

I would like to see them work out some deal. Matt's a stand up guy, and would be to bad to lose him as a citizen of MN, as well as a member of the Vikings.

Agreed, keep Matt here. He has come out and said he wants to stay heree.

[BRULEDRIFTER]

i'd welcome sage..at this point anything is better then what we got..

I take it you missed the game where he single handedly lost the game to the Colts due to his God-aweful play! He's a bumb!

[FISHINGURU]

naw i seen that game..they weren't even in the game without him to begin with...he tried to hard and made a mistake or two...if he would of held on to the ball they would of won because of him.

lets get real for a minute...for what we will get him for is worth a shot...sorry to break it to everyone we just aren't gonna be able to get a stellar qb this year...there's none available.

sage is smarter then t-awesome and more mobile then gus...he's probably more reliable then both.

the facts are its gonna be easier for any qb we can get to play for our team then the team they came from....our running game is one of the best in the league and after we patch up our oline that is one of the better olines in the game....alot of single coverage which most teams don't get to see...andre johnson from the texans is doubled or tripled every play.

i wouldn't totally rule out the vikes trading for a guy like sage and still signing another veteran qb like garcia.

i'd like to see us add tj or marv to go along with a new qb...i know you guys will say marv is washed up but he could be a very solid possesion reciever still...marv still has his hands just not quite the deep threat he used to be...similar to what chris carter used to be for us.

its gonna be fun thurs/fri morning at midnight to see if ol zigy is picking up some of these players on the jet to fly into town.

[FISHINGURU]

here's an article from a texas reporter

At one point last season, Sage Rosenfels asked Gary Kubiak to stop cursing him out every time he made a mistake.

Rosenfels tried to make his coach understand that cursing him wasn’t going to make him play better. Nor was it going to make him play harder. It was only going to make him mad.

Kubiak agreed. And stopped. Instead of losing his temper, he worked harder at explaining things to his backup quarterback.

That Kubiak would attempt to change tells you he held Rosenfels in high regard. It also tells you they must have had some interesting discussions in their three years together.

Theirs was a tense relationship at times. When they met after last season, Kubiak told him: “You and I have got a lot to talk about.”

Kubiak made it clear he wanted Rosenfels on his team. Less clear is whether Rosenfels wanted to be back.

After the 2007 season, he had asked Kubiak to trade him or allow him to compete for the starting job with the Texans.

“It wasn’t the best thing for our football team,” Kubiak said later. “I was upfront with Sage about that.”

So he didn’t trade Rosenfels because he simply was too valuable as a backup. He also didn’t allow him to compete with Matt Schaub because he didn’t want any uncertainty at quarterback.

How’s that for a tough career chat? No, Sage, you’re not leaving. No, Sage, you’re not playing.

Rosenfels reported to training camp less than thrilled with his plight, but it’s a tribute to his professionalism that he never uttered a discouraging word even though I offered him numerous opportunities.

I might have pushed him in that direction a time or two. Rosenfels said it wouldn’t be the best thing for the football team.

Putting team first

I pointed out it would be good for the newspaper industry, and don’t we all deserve a career break?

Instead of complaining, he practiced hard, played hard and kept his mouth shut. He also got paid $1.35 million, which is a good way to soothe ruffled feathers.

I’m guessing Kubiak doesn’t want to trade Rosenfels this time, either, because Matt Schaub has started and finished just 17 of his 32 games.

It’s unreasonable to think Schaub suddenly will become an iron man.

But Kubiak seems likely to trade Rosenfels this time, probably to the Minnesota Vikings.

It might not be the best thing for the Texans this time, either, but it’s the right thing to do.

The Vikings will allow Rosenfels to compete with Tarvaris Jackson for the starting job, and it’s time for him to get a real shot.

He’ll celebrate his 31st birthday next week and is about to begin his ninth NFL season. He has started just 12 games in eight years.

His window might not be closing, but it’s not going to remain open forever.

Here’s hoping the Vikings know how lucky they might be about to get.

They’re getting a really smart guy, a really competitive guy and a guy who has shown he’s good enough to win games.

He has never done it consistently, but then again, he has never had the opportunity the Vikings can give him.

The Vikings have all the other major pieces in place. Rosenfels won’t be asked to just manage the game because that’s a fallacy.

He’ll have more talent around him than he has had at any time in his career. If he’s going to make it, this is his chance.

Once the Texans signed Schaub to a $48 million contract, Rosenfels was slotted as the backup, and that was that.

He could have made things interesting when he got the Texans within five minutes of an upset of the Colts. When he was unable to finish that one off, Kubiak got Schaub back in the saddle as quickly as possible.

Let’s be clear about this. Rosenfels isn’t getting a raw deal. Schaub probably is better. He’s younger, stronger, and when he has been good, he has been really, really good. If he can stay healthy, he and Kubiak have a chance to do special things together.

Texans can gamble

The Texans will have interesting options. They’ll shop for a veteran, but they might also draft a young quarterback.

In a perfect world, they would get one capable of running some wildcat formations as a rookie.

In a really perfect world, they would get a guy just like Sage Rosenfels.

A guy that gets it in every sense of the word.

[Scott K]

Quote:

Vikings DTs Pat and Kevin Williams will be in court on June 15 to state their case against the NFL's four-game suspensions for violating the substance abuse policy.

The Williams Wall has one more pretrial date (May 14) to file any motions before the actual trial. The Williamses tested positive for a "masking agent" for steroids last year, but say the ingredient was not listed on the bottle. Their argument is good and we'd guess they'll be fine for Week 1.

[jigging-matt]

Fishingguru, that is a pretty good article. I think this will be a good move for the Vikes. I also think He could be good for our young QB's (Jackson and Booty). He can teach them alot. I hope it all works out. This could be an interesting season for the Vikes.