Minnesota Vikings: 7 Top Players to Target in Free Agency and the Draft

You could make a pretty good argument that the 2012 NFL draft is the most important one in Minnesota Vikings history. With 10 picks, the Vikings are hoping to fill several of the many holes they have on their roster. 

With the third pick in the first round and in following rounds, Minnesota is hoping to find four starters and several more players that will add needed depth to a roster that was pretty much in shambles by the end of last season. 

When a team goes 3-13 like the Vikings did last year, the draft can only be a part of the offseason process to return the team to contending for the playoffs.

With that in mind, let's take a look at some of the top targets for the Vikings as they head towards the free-agent signing period and April's draft.

Offensive Tackle Matt Kalil

The only sure thing in the 2012 NFL draft is that the Indianapolis Colts will take quarterback Andrew Luck. What happens after that is anybody's guess, and guess they will, perhaps all the way up to 10th minute of the St. Louis Rams selection with the No. 2 pick.

What the Vikings do with the third pick will obviously depend on what happens before them at pick No. 2. The St. Louis Rams will more than likely do one of three things: Trade the pick, take Matt Kalil, or take wide receiver Justin Blackmon out of Oklahoma State.

If the Rams don't trade the pick, the Vikings will certainly consider trading the pick to a team hoping to draft quarterback Robert Griffin III. The Cleveland Browns covet Griffin and pick just after Minnesota at No. 4, so in a perfect world, the Vikings could swap picks with the Browns and still land either Kalil or Blackmon with the fourth pick while picking up something else from the Browns.

The hope in Minnesota is to land Kalil one way or another, but Blackmon would be an excellent consolation prize.

Cornerback Cortland Finnegan

The Vikings had arguably the worst secondary in the NFL last season and are desperate for upgrades at each position. While there is a deep crop of cornerbacks available in this year's draft, and the Vikings will need to take at least one of them early on, they also need to land a veteran cornerback who can step immediately into the starting lineup in a leadership role.

Cortland Finnegan seems to be perfect fit for the purple. Finnegan would immediately upgrade the Vikings' ability to cover receivers and he brings the right amount of nastiness the Vikings defense is in need of.

Finnegan has only had three picks over the last two seasons, but the 28-year-old had 10 in the two seasons before that, and a change of scenery could be exactly what he needs to return his game to a Pro Bowl level.

Cornerback Chase Minnifield

Chase Minnifield has football in his blood. His father, Frank, was a four-time Pro Bowler and a member of the NFL's all-decade team for the 1980s. The apple has not fallen very far from the tree.

At 6'0" and a solid 185 pounds, Minnifield was a dominant player at Virginia who didn't pile up a lot of huge numbers because offenses facing the Cavaliers simply stayed away from his side of the field.

Minnifield would bring many of the attributes the Vikings are sorely lacking in their defensive backfield: cover ability, sure tackling and, probably most importantly, a very high football IQ, one that you would expect from the son of the hard-working, old-school Frank Minnifield.

Wide Receiver Tommy Streeter

Assuming the Vikings don't land Justin Blackmon in the first round, they would do well to pick up draft enigma Tommy Streeter out of the University of Miami. 

The late blooming wideout is zooming up draft boards after a sensational second half of the season in 2011. At 6'5" and 215 pounds, Streeter runs a low 4.5 40 and could be the perfect complement to Percy Harvin. Streeter is dripping with potential, something most of the Vikings roster isn't.

Streeter would instantly give quarterback Christian Ponder a deep threat, and with his height and athleticism he would provide Minnesota with an ideal red-zone threat.

Wide Receiver Vincent Jackson

While the Vikings might not be willing to spend the money to land Dwayne Bowe or Marques Colston, free agent Vincent Jackson would be a huge upgrade for the purple as a No. 1 receiver

At 6'5" and 235 pounds, Jackson is the type of player who can dominate football games. He's become kind of an enigma in San Diego and a fresh start would more than likely get Jackson back to being the unstoppable force he's proved he can be.

Although it seems Jackson has been playing for the Chargers forever, he's only 29 years old and could give the Vikings high production for five more seasons.

Cornerback Cliff Harris

Cliff Harris is becoming perhaps the biggest "we have no idea when he'll get drafted" players in the 2012 draft. 

The 5'11", 180-pounder was dismissed from the team at Oregon last season after too many run-ins with the law, but he's simply too dynamic of a player to drop too far in this year's draft. Harris defended more passes than any other player in the nation in 2010 while earning All-American status.

Yes, he's the third cornerback on this target list for the Vikings, but that just gives you an indication of how much help Minnesota needs at the position. Obviously, if the Vikings sign a top free-agent corner and then take another one in the second round, they probably wouldn't reach for Harris, but if he's around in the fourth or fifth rounds, his potential might just be too much to pass up.

Linebacker Curtis Lofton

If the San Francisco 49ers taught the rest of the football world anything this year, it's that having a great head coach matters. But if they taught us anything else, it's that dominant linebackers can still set the tone for a football team.

No players on the 49ers were more important to their season-long success this year than their two inside linebackers, Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman. 

In a league that has always been copy-cat driven, Lofton will probably command big money on the free-agent market, but Lofton is the kind of big-playmaking, impact linebacker the Vikings are desperate for. He may cost a lot of money, but at just 26 years old he would prove to be worth the investment.