When the clock struck midnight (Eastern) last Thursday/Friday, the NFL free agency season officially began.
As Vikings fans, this is usually a very depressing time. You watch players that you know (or think) could make your team better getting swooped up by the opposition. The whole time you find yourself thinking, “Why didn’t we sign him? We could afford (insert a few million dollars).”
However, that is not the case this year. Zigmund promised us the Purple would be active in free agency. We were armed with $30-plus million in cap space and multiple glaring needs.
So with that, here’s a little chatter between Dogg and I about our thoughts on the Vikes’ moves as well as others made, and not made, by other NFL teams. Enjoy.
Dogg: The Vikings are making a splash this offseason by picking up high-potential WR Bernard Berrian and already-proven safety Madieu Williams. Ziggy is not messing around and when he told MN that he likes to spend money—at least he wasn’t lying and has stuck to his word.
I would’ve liked to see DE Justin Smith sign here, but maybe Ziggy has a different plan up his sleeve (Jevon Kearse?) Do you like what the Vikings have done thus far?
Q: I'm going to be negative on the Vikes’ offseason so far.
We paid waaaay too much for Bernard (I believe he's the fourth-highest paid receiver in the league now)—a guy who has never caught more than 71 balls and hasn't had a 1,000 yard season yet. Plus, we already have a deep threat in Sidney Rice.
When you have a young quarterback who has struggled in the past, you need possession/slot receivers and good pass-catching tight end. Our tight end is an overpaid chump who has caught 10 balls in his career.
It seems like Zigi is willing to spend money, but he spends it on the wrong guys and overpays when he does. I do like what I hear about Williams, because we need a good cover safety. However he's also making a decent chunk of change for a guy that really has had one good season and one average season.
Then there's Tapeh. Sure, he's from Minny, but it just seems to me like he's another one of Chilly's boys from Philly and that's why we signed him.
Dogg: Q, this is professional sports and money doesn’t mean anything anymore. Paying for guys like Berrian and Williams is no big deal because every other FA out there will come close to making the same money. I like the signings a lot thus far.
Q
4 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Jon Grilz about 1 year ago
Is it too late to get John Randle back? He looked good on Pros versus Joes!
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TK on Toast about 1 year ago
I would take him! We're extremely thin at the DE position. It looks like we'll draft one, which is always a crapshoot.
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V Williams about 1 year ago
God love you, but your English teacher would give you a D- for the following incorrect usage:
"So with that, here’s a little chatter between Dogg and I ..." (Use of the preposition "between" REQUIRES the object "ME" not "I" ...
Good article, ... just would be great to see correct grammar.
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TK on Toast about 1 year ago
Settle down V,
Actually, one of our writers is an English teacher. And the correct term would be "myself" instead of "I" or change it to "me and Dogg". But you're really going to grade this article a D- because of one grammar mistake? Way to be petty and miss the point entirely.
On the other hand, it is supposed to be an informal conversation between two guys about football. So settle down about one grammatical mistake (I'm sure you've never had one in your life) and read the content and comment about that.
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