Are the Vikings Pulling a Major League?

Could the Minnesota Vikings be pulling a Rachel Phelps? No, she's not related to American swimmer Michael Phelps. In the 1989 film, Major League, owner Rachel Phelps (played by Margaret Whitton) inherits the Cleveland Indians and decides to run the club into the ground so they can be sold to a state with a warmer climate.

When free agency opened up on Feb. 27 the Vikings immediately announced a trade for 31 year old backup QB Sage Rosenfels for a fourth round draft pick. Sure, Sage is an upgrade to the current roster, but he's not quite what fans were hoping for.

The Vikings immediately struck again by re-signing blocking TE Jimmy Kleinssaser to a three year, $9 million contract. But since this signing, things have gone terribly downhill.

The team lost out on a bidding war to Seattle for WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh, which was understandable considering they didn't want to pay the 31 year old $40 million for five years.

But then on Wednesday the team took another huge blow when they failed to bring back Pro Bowl Center Matt Birk. It is mind boggling that the Vikings weren't able to bring back the lifelong Viking and St. Paul native when they have 27 million dollars under the salary cap. Birk signed three year, $12 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens.

It also looks like the team will not be able to keep linebacker Heath Farwell a special teams extraordinaire who was hurt most of last season. He has already met with the Patriots and has made it perfectly clear that he wants to go to a team where he can get defensive playing time, something the Vikings cannot offer.

Yet another offseason loss came about when apparently the team had fallen short on negotiations that would have brought young gun-slinger Jay Cutler over from Denver in a three way trade with the Patriots.

Now the Vikings are going to have to fill both RT and C positions as well as find help with their special teams. They desperately need to beef up their defensive backs since SS Daren Sharper isn't returning. They could still use a starting QB as well as playmaking WR.

It seems that the "Super Bowl ready team" is slowly slipping further and further away from being a real contender. Are the Vikings throwing the offseason?  Do they really want to come to LA? I would love to hear your feedback.