Vikings Free Agents: Ranking Re-Sign Priorities for Minnesota
The Minnesota Vikings are set up for the 2015 free-agency period about as well as they could possibly be. Two key players on the club were scheduled to hit free agency this offseason, but the Vikings got ahead of the game and signed both tight end Kyle Rudolph and guard Brandon Fusco to extensions last summer.
Those two signings all but removed any angst from the 2015 offseason as far as retaining important free agents.
Does that mean the Vikings have no worries this offseason? No, far from it. Their what-do-list is chock full with the likes of Adrian Peterson, Chad Greenway and Greg Jennings. Whether Minnesota restructures or cuts those three veterans among others will go a long way toward determining how much money the Vikings have to spend in free agency.
But as far as the Vikings' own free agents? Minnesota's list won't cause a ton of headaches among general manager Rick Spielman, salary-cap guru Rob Brzezinski and the coaching staff.
While some of these players play significant roles on the team, the truth of the matter is that if none of these guys were around on the first day of training camp next summer, it wouldn't elicit a whole lot more than a shoulder shrug from most Vikings fans.
Once again, that's probably a blessing for a front office that has more than enough work on its hands this offseason, beginning with Peterson.
With that said, decisions will have to be made on each of the Vikings' free agents. Here we rank them in order of importance as far as re-signing them and keeping them in the fold.
11. Safety Mistral Raymond
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Raymond spent the 2014 season on injured reserve after not making it past the first round of cuts in August and then went unclaimed on the NFL waiver wire.
Raymond played in 32 games for the Vikings between 2011-2013, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. He beat out Jamarca Sanford for a starting spot during training camp in 2011. But an early injury sidelined him, and Sanford hung on to the starting job for the next two years.
Raymond has overcome a lot in his life to make it as far as he has, as chronicled by Joseph Gunther of WCCO.com in 2012.
Raymond made it further in football than 99 percent of the guys who've ever played it, but his time in the NFL may be over.
10. Fullback Jerome Felton
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Ranking Felton near the bottom of the Vikings' free-agent list is in no way a suggestion that he hasn't been a valued member of the football team for the last three seasons.
We rank the 2012 Pro Bowl fullback low because he's already indicated that he'll choose to opt out of his contract before the Vikings cut him, according to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press.
Felton saw his role drastically diminish under Norv Turner, with his snap count dropping from 23.4 per game in 2013 to just 10.5 per game this season.
Felton sees the writing on the wall and understands the business aspect of football, as Tomasson quotes him as saying the following:
"The economics of my thing is they’re not going to pay me $2.5 million. You wouldn’t just stay in a contract knowing your salary is that high. There’s no guarantee in the contract, so it wouldn’t make sense for me to opt in. So I’m a free agent after this season. If they wanted, they could re-sign me (at a lesser amount).
I’m obviously not going to want to just play a few snaps. All that stuff will come up (in talks after the season). But I’ve been positive this whole year and tried to be a leader in our locker room.
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With the reduced role in Turner's offense, which tends to line up two tight ends rather than a fullback most of the time, it makes sense for Felton to move on. There is obviously a spot for him in the NFL; it's just not with Minnesota any longer.
9. Quarterback Christian Ponder
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The Christian Ponder era is over in Minnesota.
He had more bad games than good ones, and the reasons for both are plenty. But the Vikings have found their future at quarterback, and it's not Ponder.
Ponder and the Vikings will part ways after four seasons with Ponder hoping to catch on with another team that will at least offer the hope of playing time.
The Vikings will head into the 2015 season with Teddy Bridgewater as the starting quarterback and Matt Cassel as the backup. The third quarterback will either be Pat Devlin, who finished the season on the practice squad, or someone else the Vikings find in the offseason.
Ponder has handled all of the ups and downs with the Vikings with nothing but class and a positive attitude. He looked back on his time with Minnesota, as quoted by Master Tesfatsion of the Star Tribune:
"The emotional part is saying goodbye to a lot of people. I feel like I’ve built some great relationships with people the past four years, and this has been my comfort and a place I’ve called home. So it’s tough to leave, but I’m excited about new beginnings.
It was up and down for sure. It was a dream come true for me to be able to get drafted and play, and I want to thank Zygi [Wilf] and the whole Wilf family and Rick [Spielman] for giving me that chance. I enjoyed it. There were times that weren’t as enjoyable, but overall it was fun and I’ll remember my times here.
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The Ponder era certainly didn't unfold the way anyone had hoped when Minnesota drafted him 12th overall in 2011. It's time to turn the page.
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8. Defensive End Corey Wootton
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The Vikings signed Wootton as a free agent last year in the hopes that he could be an effective rotation player. They didn't get much return on their $1.7 million investment.
Wootton pitched in with just one sack and 16 tackles and clearly didn't adapt very well to Mike Zimmer's defensive scheme. His impact was minimal, and it would be very surprising if Minnesota had any interest in bringing him back in 2015.
One would think that Wootton's reps would fall to 2014 third-round draft pick Scott Crichton in 2015.
7. Long Snapper Cullen Loeffler
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Vikings long snapper Cullen Loeffler made $1.27 million in 2014.
That might be on the high side for a player who has such a minimal role, but the Vikings have been more than happy to pay for the security Loeffler provided over the course of his 11 seasons with the team.
You can probably count the number of bad snaps from Loeffler on one hand in that time. Unfortunately for Loeffler, one of the defining plays of Minnesota's 2014 season was a low snap to punter Jeff Locke that led to a blocked punt out of the end zone for a game-winning safety for the Miami Dolphins in late December.
One of the cold, hard realities of the NFL is that it's always been a "what have you done for me lately?" league. If Loeffler can no longer provide the Vikings with certainty at the position, it's time to move on.
Does one bad snap mean that he is no longer capable of doing the job? Of course not. But the fact that we even have to pose that question is bad enough. You don't want to ever have to even think about your long snapper. For over 10.5 seasons, the Vikings didn't have to.
Now they do.
6. Guard Vladimir Ducasse
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Guard Vladimir Ducasse was pressed into duty for 13 games for the Vikings in 2014, six of which he started after right guard Brandon Fusco was lost for the season after tearing a pectoral muscle in Week 3.
Ducasse struggled for most of the season.
A rash of injuries hit Minnesota's offensive line in 2014, and it illustrated the importance of having solid depth behind your offensive line starters. While the Vikings backups weren't abysmal, they certainly didn't play their way into starting roles either.
Much of Ducasse's future with Minnesota probably depends on the progress made by rookie guard David Yankey this season. After being considered a fifth-round steal in the draft, Yankey was inactive for most of he year, and Zimmer said he needed to get stronger to play in the league, according to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press.
Ducasse is a big body (6'5", 325 lbs) and a serviceable backup, but he probably didn't show enough during the plenty of playing time he had in 2014 to be brought back.
5. Offensive Tackle Mike Harris
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Harris started the last five games of the season at right tackle for the Vikings after starter Phil Loadholt tore a pectoral muscle.
Harris did an adequate job, and it's not out of the question that the Vikings bring the three-year veteran back if they think he showed enough to be the swing tackle.
Like Ducasse, Harris' future with the team might hinge on what the Vikings thought of rookie Austin Wentworth. The Vikings also had Antonio Richardson on injured reserve this season, and if he's considered part of the future, Harris might be on the outside looking in.
4. Offensive Lineman Joe Berger
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The 32-year old grizzled veteran was the best of the Vikings backups on the offensive line, starting nine games in 2014 and playing pretty solidly each time out.
The Vikings have always like Berger for his versatility. He can play either guard spot without missing a beat and serves as the backup center to John Sullivan as well.
Berger only made $635,000 in 2014, and the odds are Minnesota would love to have him back with a minor bump in pay.
He's not getting any younger, but it seems every year the guess is that Berger won't survive the final roster cuts. He always does. And he always produces when pressed into duty. He's a valuable commodity.
3. Running Back Matt Asiata
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The Minnesota Vikings like Asiata a lot. At 6'0", 234 pounds, he's a big, strong running back who busts his butt and gives you everything he has on every play. He's a high-character guy and the type of player you love to go into battle with.
He's just not a No. 1 running back in the NFL.
Asiata led the Vikings with 570 rushing yards but only averaged 3.5 yards per carry. That's his career average, so we're at the point where it's pretty difficult to see him improving on that number. That's just not good enough.
By contrast, rookie Jerick McKinnon averaged 4.8 yards a rush this season, and Adrian Peterson has a career average of 5.0.
If Asiata is your lone back on a given play, the defense isn't going to respect the run, and that's going to make things more difficult for your quarterback.
In Asiata's favor though is that only six running backs scored more than his 10 touchdowns in 2014. Asiata has proved to be valuable throughout his career inside the 5-yard line. Some players just have a nose for the goal line, and he's one of them.
Asiata is a restricted free agent, which means the Vikings can match any offer made on him. It's doubtful that any team would make a big offer on him, so it's highly likely he's back with the Vikings in 2015.
2. Middle Linebacker Jasper Brinkley
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It's been a long time since the Vikings have had a dominant middle linebacker.
They'd love to find a three-down guy who they can plug in and forget about, but Brinkley probably isn't that guy.
That said, Brinkley had a pretty good season, ranking fourth on the team with 75 tackles. The Vikings brought Brinkley back in 2014 on a cheap, one-year deal for just $830,000, and he certainly lived up to that.
Minnesota has plenty of questions to address at linebacker, with the only sure things to return probably being Anthony Barr, Gerald Hodges and Audie Cole.
Brinkley's future may hinge on what Minnesota decides to do with Chad Greenway. If Greenway moves inside, Brinkley probably won't be back. If Greenway is cut, Brinkley may be in the hunt to start in the middle again, depending on who else is brought on.
There are certainly free agents on the market who would be an upgrade over Brinkley. But none of them are stars, and paying any one of them three or four times what the Vikings would have to pay Brinkley might not be worth it.
1. Defensive Tackle Tom Johnson
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You can't ask for a whole lot more than 6.5 sacks from a backup defensive tackle.
The Vikings paid Johnson just $845,000 in 2014, so he'd have to be considered a steal of a pickup in free agency. By contrast, the Chicago Bears paid out about $8 million to Jared Allen and Lamarr Houston, who combined for 6.5 sacks.
The 30-year old Johnson is reportedly interested in a multiyear deal, according to Matt Vensel of the Star Tribune. That's not surprising for a guy who's played for six different teams over the last nine years, including stops in the Arena League and the CFL.
While there is certainly a danger in overpaying for a guy who might be a one-year wonder, it wouldn't be surprising if the Vikings rewarded Johnson with a pretty big bump in pay over a two- or three-year deal.
Zimmer has certainly proved over the years that he knows what he'd doing with defensive players, so if the Vikings do pay to keep Johnson around, you'll know Zimmer believes in him.
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