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Also, I wouldnt be opposed to Osemele playing LT. He was a LT all through college and obviously a pretty solid one since he was drafted in the second round. I think thats what Zim and Rick are so intrigued by is his versatility. It gives them plenty of options come draft day. If Whitehair is sitting there, they take him and put Osemele at LT. If Decker or Conklin are sitting there, they leave Osemele at LG.

Throw the big bucks at him already!!!

Getting in a bidding war for a Guard sounds absurd, but when you consider how upper-echelon offensive lineman are rapidly becoming obsolete, it makes sense and worthwhile.

Give the Bridge solid foundation. See what happens...

Pondering Her Percy wrote:
LG- Kelechi Osemele
SS- Reggie Nelson
OLB- Vincent Rey

....this would make my offseason.

this would be my ideal off season as well.... with Greenway as a backup plan to Rey.

But either way, get Nelson and Osemele and I'm more than happy.


However on the flip side, if we overpay for Iloka and Boone, put me down as concerned. I like Iloka, I just don't want to pay him what he'll likely make on the open market. Paying average starters elite money is never a good thing, ask Philadelphia how that went with Maxwell.

From what I have been seeing Vikings are really interested in Osemele and also Schwartz.
https://mobile.twitter.com/GoesslingESP ... wsrc%5Etfw
The contract they give Phil is backup money with incentives. Maybe they are going to go after Schwartz and let Harris walk. That would be a huge upgrade to the line. Then pick up Whitehair in the draft.
Then would they go for Nelson at safety. He wouldn't be that hard on the wallet.

If they feel they are only a few players away from getting to the bowl. They might spend the money.

halfgiz wrote:From what I have been seeing Vikings are really interested in Osemele and also Schwartz.
https://mobile.twitter.com/GoesslingESP ... wsrc%5Etfw
The contract they give Phil is backup money with incentives. Maybe they are going to go after Schwartz and let Harris walk. That would be a huge upgrade to the line. Then pick up Whitehair in the draft.
Then would they go for Nelson at safety. He wouldn't be that hard on the wallet.

If they feel they are only a few players away from getting to the bowl. They might spend the money.

Hard to see bringing in Osemele and Schwartz while keeping Kalils 11 mil on the books.

halfgiz wrote:From what I have been seeing Vikings are really interested in Osemele and also Schwartz.
https://mobile.twitter.com/GoesslingESP ... wsrc%5Etfw
The contract they give Phil is backup money with incentives. Maybe they are going to go after Schwartz and let Harris walk. That would be a huge upgrade to the line. Then pick up Whitehair in the draft.
Then would they go for Nelson at safety. He wouldn't be that hard on the wallet.

If they feel they are only a few players away from getting to the bowl. They might spend the money.

Which would be foolish, over the past 3 years only one of the top 7 teams in free agency activity has posted a winning record (The Colts), while only one of the bottom 7 in free agency activity posted a losing record in that same time span. (The Texans)

saint33 wrote:
this would be my ideal off season as well.... with Greenway as a backup plan to Rey.

But either way, get Nelson and Osemele and I'm more than happy.


However on the flip side, if we overpay for Iloka and Boone, put me down as concerned. I like Iloka, I just don't want to pay him what he'll likely make on the open market. Paying average starters elite money is never a good thing, ask Philadelphia how that went with Maxwell.

Iloka is definitely NOT an average starter. He's one of the best cover safeties in the game. In 2014-2015, he was the #1
Coverage safety according to PFF. Allowed an 18.4 passer rating which is crazy. He was very good last year as well. Plus you add in that he knows Zims scheme. He's an interchangeable safety that can play either spot just like Harrison. Zim could put those two all over the place. Teams wouldn't know what's coming. If we pay him a good chunk of money, I have no problem with it

Jordysghost wrote: Which would be foolish, over the past 3 years only one of the top 7 teams in free agency activity has posted a winning record (The Colts), while only one of the bottom 7 in free agency activity posted a losing record in that same time span. (The Texans)

2013 seahawks had cliff avril and michael bennett who they signed as free agents

2014 patriots had revis and brandon browner

2015 broncos had manning, vazquez, sanders, ward, ware and talib

point is the right free agents can put teams over the top, especially teams that have been doing a great job drafting.

Jordysghost wrote: Which would be foolish, over the past 3 years only one of the top 7 teams in free agency activity has posted a winning record (The Colts), while only one of the bottom 7 in free agency activity posted a losing record in that same time span. (The Texans)

It would be foolish to spend the money and mortgage the future because you think you are close to winning a SB, but it wouldn't be foolish to spend the money if you are bringing in young players who can become part of the core of your team, and you are able to structure the contracts in a way that doesn't leave you hamstrung by the cap in coming years.

fiestavike wrote: It would be foolish to spend the money and mortgage the future because you think you are close to winning a SB, but it wouldn't be foolish to spend the money if you are bringing in young players who can become part of the core of your team, and you are able to structure the contracts in a way that doesn't leave you hamstrung by the cap in coming years.

I agree, but those are very large ifs.

slapnut19 wrote:
2013 seahawks had cliff avril and michael bennett who they signed as free agents

2014 patriots had revis and brandon browner

2015 broncos had manning, vazquez, sanders, ward, ware and talib

point is the right free agents can put teams over the top, especially teams that have been doing a great job drafting.

Ok? Every team is going to have a certain amount of free agents, isn't that obvious? That isn't any indication spending aggressively in FA is a typically successful way to build a Champion, because it isn't.

The point is, that aggressive FA when you perceive your team to be a 'couple players away' is unsuccessful far, far, FAR more then it is successful. I think the data I posted above tends to support the idea that FA is more risk then reward.

A 'couple players away' is a very, very risky attitude to have, the Jaguars thought they were 'a couple players away' in the late 90s, and they put themselves in one of the worst front office financial situations in sports history, the Saints have pushed hard for another shot at a title and have been aggressive in free agency, and so far they have fallen flat on their face with an impeding cap train that is going to level them a few years down the road, the Cowboys? Same thing.

The cautionary tales are numerous. Free agency is fools gold, it can be an effective tool but it must be handled correctly.

dead_poet wrote:CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora expects the Vikings to release Mike Wallace within the "next 48 hours."

Does this mean they couldn't work out a deal? This is frustrating to me because he can stretch the feld and we haven't had that since Moss.

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PurpleMustReign wrote: Does this mean they couldn't work out a deal? This is frustrating to me because he can stretch the feld and we haven't had that since Moss.

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That's probably what it means. Rice could stretch the field, when healthy. But nobody can do it like Moss did so we really can't expect or look for that. It'd be like trying to compare any RB after Peterson to AD.

dead_poet wrote: That's probably what it means. Rice could stretch the field, when healthy. But nobody can do it like Moss did so we really can't expect or look for that. It'd be like trying to compare any RB after Peterson to AD.

I agree. Randy was sui generis.

Mike Wallace just didn't do enough for his salary. I am a bit surprised though, given Zimmer's very positive comments about him this offseason. If they let him go, I wouldn't be surprised if we were to draft a WR at #23.

DP (and others) thanks for the updates... this thread has become my one-stop update source!

From Ben Goessling:

http://espn.go.com/blog/minnesota-vikin ... ring-to-it

According to league sources, the Vikings contacted the representatives for both of the Cincinnati Bengals' free-agent safeties -- George Iloka and Reggie Nelson -- on Monday, and the team also checked in on former Bengals cornerback Adam Jones, whose career Zimmer had a hand in resurrecting when he was the Bengals' defensive coordinator. If any of them wind up in Minnesota once players are free to sign with new teams on Wednesday, they'd lengthen a list of Zimmer's former players migrating to Minnesota. The former Bengals join Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman Kelechi Osemele among the Vikings' early targets; Osemele stands to become one of the highest-paid linemen in free agency, and is drawing interest from the Vikings as a guard.