John Carlson's contract

[S197]

Yes, the Vikings are winning but I don't think that should deter looking for areas of improvement. Carlson is a noticeable issue right now, if it wasn't, Frazier, Musgrave and Ponder wouldn't have to be coming out and defending him. I will say that if I recall correctly, Visanthe Shiancoe also had a rather slow start and then became very productive. That was a different HC/OC so it may be apples/oranges but hopefully Carlson can show similar (or greater) improvement.

[Infinity]

Unbelievable. For the amount of money we pay him I don't know why we're not getting him more involved. When I first heard he was coming to the vikes I was excited, but know I am completely disappointed. From the amount of money we spent on him we could have improved our team in many different ways.

[Mothman]

Yes, the Vikings are winning but I don't think that should deter looking for areas of improvement.

I agree. They should always be looking for ways to improve and Carlson should be able to help them do that. Over the course of the season, I think he probably will but only time will tell.

[Eli]

John Carlson is the least of the Vikings worries on offense. Worry about completing a few more passes downfield and worry about scoring some points, not how to involve another TE on 5 yard passing plays.

[Mothman]

John Carlson is the least of the Vikings worries on offense. Worry about completing a few more passes downfield and worry about scoring some points, not how to involve another TE on 5 yard passing plays.

Maybe he can help them score more points.

[radar55]

Maybe he can help them score more points.

We seem to have a history of doing this. We overpaid for Skanko and now we repeated the same mistake with Carlson. Maybe he can contribute and maybe he remains invisible throughout the season but IMO there was no reason to invest that 25 million for another T/E in the first place. I wonder how this offense would look right now if that money had been used to bring in a quality W/R (something we actually needed and still do)

[Mothman]

We seem to have a history of doing this. We overpaid for Skanko and now we repeated the same mistake with Carlson. Maybe he can contribute and maybe he remains invisible throughout the season but IMO there was no reason to invest that 25 million for another T/E in the first place. I wonder how this offense would look right now if that money had been used to bring in a quality W/R (something we actually needed and still do)

I doubt that money would have landed a real difference-maker at WR. $11 million of the $25 million is guaranteed. That's little more than half of what the Redskins gave Garcon in guarantees (or what the Saints gave Colston). Vincent Jackson received $26 million in guaranteed money.

[radar55]

I doubt that money would have landed a real difference-maker at WR. $11 million of the $25 million is guaranteed. That's little more than half of what the Redskins gave Garcon in guarantees (or what the Saints gave Colston). Vincent Jackson received $26 million in guaranteed money.

I understand this is all 20/20 hind sight and your correct that the 25 million would not have brought in a top tier W/R but it just seems to me that (in terms of team need) since Rudolph was drafted to be the offensive future at the T/E position and is certainly the #1 T/E and with Ellison and Reisner all ready on the roster.....what role was/is Carlson supposed to fill and how many TE's does this offense need?

When healthy, Carlson was a capable T/E but with his injury history/productivity I simply did not at the time of the signing (and still dont) believe that the team was/is getting value for the amount of money they spent for what I see is a back up T/E. Just my opinion

[Mothman]

I understand this is all 20/20 hind sight and your correct that the 25 million would not have brought in a top tier W/R but it just seems to me that (in terms of team need) since Rudolph was drafted to be the offensive future at the T/E position and is certainly the #1 T/E and with Ellison and Reisner all ready on the roster.....what role was/is Carlson supposed to fill and how many TE's does this offense need?

It obviously remains to be seen. I imagine they envision some 2 TE sets in which they can use Carlson and Rudolph to create matchup problems but only the Vikings know for sure.

When healthy, Carlson was a capable T/E but with his injury history/productivity I simply did not at the time of the signing (and still dont) believe that the team was/is getting value for the amount of money they spent for what I see is a back up T/E. Just my opinion

It's a perfectly reasonable opinion.

Honestly, I don't think what Carlson was paid is all that significant in NFL terms. It's not chump change but the Vikings didn't give him a huge contract that will hurt them down the road if he ends up being seriously unproductive. Since he missed quite a bit of the preseason and we're only 4 games into the regular season, I think we need to just give it time and see what happens. I understand that when a team throws good money at a free agent, we all want to see him come in, produce right away and make an impact. Carlson has failed to do that and it's disappointing but we have 3/4 of a season left to go so there's still plenty of time for him to make a significant contribution and hopefully, he will. If not, I suspect he'll be gone at the end of next season if not sooner.

[mansquatch]

As Moth said: Need More Info.

The guy was an FA signing and missed most of pre-sesaon with an injury. He is still gaining chemistry with his team. So he started his time in a new offense with a new team/new QB 4 weeks behind. At this point I'd say he deserves more time to show what he can do. Also, the Vikings are winning despite his non-performance. Just my take, but I think I'd wait until the bye week before really getting bent out of shape over it. We just do not know enough right now.


Also, I get that everyone says they want the O to get better. But, at this point and time, what are they going to do with Carlson? If they go extreme and wiave him, they still take the cap hits the next 2 years and there is no one out there to bring that is going to contribute. Not saying anyone is saying cut him, but what exactly are they going to do? To me it seems kind of moot at this point, he has a guarranteed deal so you may as well keep him on the roster until at least next pre-season. Worst case scenario they cut him in training cap in 2013 and take a cap hit. It isn't that big of a deal, they are already under the cap as it is and have shown that they will not overpay for a FA, so I don't see it as being too big a of a blunder in that respect if it turns out that way. Unless you are Zygi and they just whiffed on your $10MM.

[VikingLord]

Carlson is a bust. Even if he were signed for a lot less I would still think so. Dude was out of football for a year after displaying marginal ability before his concussion. He has no ability to separate from LBs that I can see (Bowman had him under wraps and I've yet to see Carlson running free no matter who is covering him), plus Ponder is only interested in throwing to Rudolph most of the time, anyway.

What's really puzzling to me is how Carlson remained invisible against the Lions. The Lions were dedicating a lot of attention to Harvin, so that should have opened something up for the other receivers, including the TEs. But not Carlson. Heck, even Rudolph was pretty much invisible in that game until, what, the 3rd quarter? I guess that's what happens when the QB is so intent on getting the ball to one or two guys, but if there were ever a game where Carlson could have made a mark it was against the Lions and he was radio-silent.

Could it improve as the season goes on? Maybe, but I wouldn't hold my breath. This was a bad signing by Spielman.