Brett Favre

Talk about a PR move. Minneapolis locals shouldn’t have any problem catching the game on television this year, that’s for sure.

With the acquisition of Brett Favre, Vikings Nation split into two very distinct, very separate groups. Either Favre is still a good quarterback and would make the Vikings better, or he is a washed-up 40-year old who can’t make up his mind and will take the Vikings down a long, dark road of doom and destruction.

I’m in the former’s group.

No, Favre is not a great quarterback. I would go as far as saying that he’s not even a top-15 quarterback. But neither is Jackson or Rosenfels. With the addition of Favre, the Vikings have instantly become far more turnover-prone than they were just a few days ago. But with those turnovers comes the fifth-most accurate passer in football  from last year.

Although he unequivocally denied having revenge as a factor in this return, I would be willing to wager that Favre doesn’t like the Packers very much after they denied him re-entry into their system. Head coach Mike McCarthy said that they were moving on with young Aaron Rodgers, and that Favre no longer fit into their plans. Who can blame them? Favre probably didn’t like that response, though, and asked to be traded. He landed with the Jets, and the rest is a long, drawn-out history.

On-the-field abilities aside, Favre is one of the smartest quarterbacks of all time. With many years of experience to draw from, the whole team would do wise to listen intently whenever Favre speaks. His wisdom and teaching alone would be worth a few million dollars to this team.

Did the Vikings over-pay Favre? Of course. $12 million is a lot of money, but a sum far larger than that will be made from advertising and publicity alone.

The bottom line on this move is that it fills a huge hole on the Minnesota roster. Neither Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels are probably fit to lead this team on a deep playoff run. It would be hard to find someone who thinks that Favre isn’t at least a minor upgrade at the quarterback position for Minnesota. And an upgrade is an upgrade, however small.

The Vikings have a very small window of opportunity. Adrian Peterson won’t be the same elite running back he is right now in four years. Our run defense won’t be the same as it is now in four years. This team won’t have the same opportunity it has right now in four years. The time is short for the Vikings, and they need to win a Superbowl soon if they have any plans on doing so.

If that means calling upon the services of a hated quarterback in the process, well, so be it.

UPDATE: Preliminary reports from Access Vikings say that Matt Birk has accepted the terms of the Baltimore Ravens. Though the deal isn’t officially complete, it should be done very soon. That would, of course, end Birk’s stay with the Vikings, where he had spent his entire career. The Harvard graduate had never tested free agency, and it appears on his first go at it, he’ll be leaving for Maryland. Ravens’ fans, you got yourself a stellar center, and a better person. We wish Matt all the best of luck!

Source: Access Vikings

It has been awhile since I’ve posted, so many apologies, especially when there’s been so much going on. Thankfully, Michael and Andrew have dominated the recent news. My thoughts:

To borrow a phrase: the money grabbing Housh-bag

First off, the Housh thing. You know what? Screw him. If he thinks having Matt Hasselbeck is a reason to join a team, then he’s got another thing coming. The Seahawks’ offensive line is suspect, he won’t have a very good complement at receiver (unless they draft Crabtree), and who even knows if Hasselbeck is going to recover completely? If all the things work out, then yeah, there’s a good chance that the Seahawks make a run for the NFC West title. Honestly, saying Hasselbeck is the reason he chose Seattle is a little bogus to me. I’m sure it played a part, no doubt, but come on. We all know what it was really about:

The money.

You can’t completely blame him; he paid his dues (in Cincinnati no less), and now he wants to get paid. Fair enough. Saying that, it’s safe to assume that in his eight years in the league, he’s most likely accumulated plenty of cash to survive well into his elder years of life. Is going to a possible black hole in Seattle worth a few extra million? Despite being extremely biased, I think everyone can agree that the Vikings have a slightly better chance of making the playoffs and a run to the Super Bowl than the Seahawks. Even with Tarvaris or Sage, having Bernard Berrian on one side, Shiancoe in the middle, and Peterson and Taylor in the backfield makes up for a lot at the quarterback position. He would get one-on-ones a majority of the time. It still baffles me that he went to the Seahawks.

Oh well. Time to move on. We probably don’t want a guy who bases his decisions mostly on money, anyway. Just had to get that off my chest.

Vikings' fans: it will never happen

There has been while speculation regarding current Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler and his status on the trading block. The reason this came about was previous reports that there was a three way trade involving Denver, New England, and numerous other possible teams, such as Tampa Bay or Minnesota. The end result would be Matt Cassel in Denver, Cutler with the third team, and New England getting a boatload of draft picks. Obviously, what with the Cassel trade to the Chiefs, none of that came to fruition. For some reason, many people still think that Denver’s new coach, Josh McDaniels, still had interest in trading Cutler, which is a fairly ridiculous thought, and here’s why:

The only reason Cutler was being mentioned in trades is because McDaniels, the former New England disciple, wanted Cassel to be his quarterback. If he got Cassel, who’s due roughly $14.6 million dollars this year, they would not have room for Cutler as they need all that money to help rebuild their sorry excuse for a defense. Thus, they would need to get rid of Cutler and free up some cap room; plus, you don’t really need two potential franchise quarterbacks on one team. Just doesn’t make sense. When the trade fell through, so did any option of getting Cutler.

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I know we’ve had a lot of quarterback speculation, but this report out of the Houston Chronicle states that the Vikings are nearing a deal that would bring Houston Texans backup Sage Rosenfels to the Vikings for a fourth round draft choice.

From the article:

“The Texans and Minnesota are close to completing a trade that would send quarterback Sage Rosenfels to the Vikings, possibly for a fourth-round draft choice.”

A deal close to completion for Sage?

This goes against what Childress said just a few days ago at the NFL Combine, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was just posturing on the part of the Vikings top brass. Of course, it wouldn’t surprise me if this is a false statement, and someone in the Texans organization leaked some suspect information. So far, I’ve only been able to find the information on the Houston Chronicle website, so take it for what you will.

It would be an interesting move that would mean the end of Gus Frerotte as a Viking, but it would definitely bring in competition for Tarvaris Jackson. Rosenfels wouldn’t be the clear cut starter, but you know what? I’d take it. For a fourth round choice, bring him on.

I’ll bring you more updates as I get them.

UPDATE:

ESPN’s NFC North Blogger Kevin Seifert had not heard anything. Happened to be in his weekly chat and I posed this question to him:

“Brett (Houston, TX): So says the Houston Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6276358.html
Any truth to that? Sage Rosenchoppa/Rosenfels to the Vikings?

 Kevin Seifert: (1:44 PM ET ) I take that back. Wow. That comes as a surprise to me. A couple things jump out to me. The fact that he is available this year, and wasn’t last year, suggest the Texans aren’t as high on him. Rosenfels had a pretty uneven peformance last year.

But this doesn’t chance the overall picture. Rosenfels, I presume, will fill the Frerotte role and compete with Tarvaris Jackson in training camp. Tarvaris will be the favorite in that competition. ”

It’s news to Kevin Seifert, so again, take it for what you will. Possible, but no one’s heard anything but the Houston Chronicle as of now.

SECOND UPDATE:

From Judd Zulgad, Access Vikings:

“Sports Radio 610 out of Houston is reporting that the Vikings are offering a fifth-round pick and the Texans are seeking a third. They will probably settle on a fourth-rounder. Meanwhile, the station also reports the Vikings have offered a three-year, $9 million extension to Rosenfels.”

More info, looks to be legit. Nothing is finalized, however, it looks like both parties are willing to negotiate. Of course, we won’t know anything until free agency officially starts. Again, I’d take Sage to compete with Tarvaris. Whoever gets the job will have earned it in offseason workouts, training camp, and the preseason. It’s not a move that will set the world on fire, but hey, it’s better than no moves at all.

Source: Houston Chronicle
Source: ESPN NFC North Blog Chat

President’s Day came and went, bringing us one step closer to free agency; that is, one of the few interesting parts of the NFL Offseason, and the Vikings have a decent amount of cap space to make it at least a little note worthy. Especially considering our troubles at the quarterback position, coupled with the few viable options in the free agent market, all fans of the Minnesota Vikings are waiting with proverbial bated breath to see what Childress and the top brass of the Purple People Eaters do in regards to Tarvaris and company.

Tampa Bay is letting journeyman Jeff Garcia go

As it has been discussed many times before here and elsewhere, most people believe that the Vikings are one or two positions away from making a deep playoff, and even possibly, a Super Bowl run. One of those positions happens to be the most important position on the field – the quarterback. I won’t go into deep specifics here, as the horse is dead, and I don’t want to beat the poor guy any more, but suffice to say it has been a topic of discussion of late.

Yesterday, word came out that Jeff Garcia would not be re-signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Coming from the St. Petersburg Times, Garcia said, “My time in Tampa has come to an end.” He also said, from the same paper, “I’m not under contract and I’m about to hit free agency, and that means it’s time again for me to just move on.” The paper stated that Bucs’ general manager Mark Dominik talked with Garcia’s agent and the two talked about Garcia’s future with the Buccaneers organization. Dominik apparently told Garcia’s agent that the Buccaneers wanted a younger quarterback, someone who can be shaped to the organization’s specifications. Garcia said, “Sometimes it’s how you tweak it, not change it. With a new head coach, they want somebody pulling the trigger that they can mold. Beyond that, I don’t know why they’re making the move.”

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As I was watching the Super Bowl yesterday, which was a great one by the way, I really took notice one one main point the Cardinals and Steelers kept making to me, and I had one thought that kept coming back to me:

I thought, “Wow, so that’s what a great quarterback and a great receiver can do for a team.”

Former Minnesota Vikings ball boy turned acrobat slash wide receiver

Obviously, I hadn’t forgotten about Moss, Carter, Reed, and company, but seeing it on that main stage, where two great quarterbacks were chucking balls to receivers that ranged from competent to extraordinary really showed what the Vikings need to help them compete. The old adage of “running the ball” and “stopping the run” in the playoffs seems to have gone by the wayside, and you can’t really argue. In the Super Bowl, the teams combined for 91 yards rushing and passed for 633 yards. While both teams can say they stopped the run, those who watched know that neither team really committed to rushing the ball very much. Willie Parker had 19 attempts, and the Steelers as a whole had 26, but if you would have told me after the game that they rushed that much I would have said you were crazy. It did not seem like they ran that much. Arizona, as was expected, only attempted 12 rushes, so they were going to pass, and everyone knew it.

Despite that, the Cardinals walked through the playoffs, running the ball moreso than in the regular season, but still managed to make it to the Super Bowl in convincing fashion. It just makes me wonder what the Vikings would be like if we had a real, legitimate, superstar receiver like Fitzgerald and an accurate, intelligent quarterback to throw the ball around.

And let’s not count out Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes and his counterpart, Gentle Ben. The two of them, when the running game wasn’t working, simply went off. Holmes had the best game of his career, made a Cris Carter-like touchdown grab at the end of the game, and Ben tossed the ball in the exact spot where only he could get it. Unbelievable. Do you see Tarvaris Jackson making that pass? I sure don’t. Both teams had great QBs with great WRs. The Vikings, honestly, have a sub-par QB and an above average receiever in Bernard Berrian. Berrian is good, but he’s not the go-to 100% committed throw-it-up-and-he’ll-go-get-it type like Fitzgerald or Holmes, to a lesser degree. While I don’t think the Vikings need a seriously top flight wide out, they need a tall, fast guy who can go up and get it. Sidney Rice could be the tall guy, but he’s no burner.

Hopefully, the Vikings can address both of these issues. If they do, the NFL better watch out next year. As for now, we can only congratulate the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals for not only giving us an amazing game, but to show us exactly what our favorite team needs to really be a contender.