The draft is less than four weeks away and for many the offseason is entering the lull between the start of free agency and the Draft. There has been a flurry of free agency signings and more money guaranteed than most working people can fathom but for the Minnesota Vikings and General Manager Rick Spielman it has been a spend wisely rather than splurge on a key player couple of weeks. Key positions remain unfilled, free agent targets were aloud sign elsewhere and there is the ever present issues surrounding Adrian Peterson. Sure there were some flashes of an interesting offseason, the trade with Miami for receiver Mike Wallace being one of them but Rick Spielman has set up shop to build through the draft for the foreseeable future and while this is the way to build a franchise it can lead to some frustrating periods.
Frustrating Offseason for Vikings Fans
Player Acquisitions
The players that the Vikings have signed fall under the stop gap heading of player acquisitions. One such player, cornerback Terrance Newman will be 37 by the time he takes the field in Purple and while a formidable player in his career, he is not a long term answer at cornerback. Having Newman join the Vikings give the team enough time for drafted player to become accustomed to Head Coach Mike Zimmer’s defensive scheme and reunites a defensive force, 12 of his 37 interceptions have come under Mike Zimmer’s defenses.
The only player acquisition that has commentators speculating about a long term future is Safety Taylor Mays. A former Zimmer project during his time at Cincinnati, Mays has been seen as a hybrid safety/linebacker, at 6 ft 3in, and 225lbs Mays has the size to be competitive in the NFL and at 27 he is still young enough to be in the league for several years. While his numbers are not impressive, he is intriguing enough to warrant a hopeful outlook, while he never cemented himself as more than a depth player during his time with the Bangles, he will be given the opportunity to compete for the starting safety position opposite Harrison Smith.
Left Guard
One thing that has irked Vikings fans is the lack of free agency activity at left guard. When the offseason came around it was evident to even the casual observer that Charlie Johnson was not going to be back come the start of training camp. He carried a high cap number of $2.5 million for a player who had shown little improvement in his 3 seasons at guard having been replaced at left tackle by Matt Kalil. Added to that was his age becoming 31 in May and the move to cut him shocked no one. Very few guards were mentioned in the same breath as Minnesota this free agency, leaving fans understandably frustrated.
Exacerbating this frustration is the fact that in his time as Vikings GM Rick Spielman has never drafted a guard in the top rounds of the Draft, preferring to spend later round picks and develop players as is the case of current right guard Brandon Fusco (6th Round) and center John Sullivan (6th round). The primary candidate for starting at guard next season is David Yankey, a 5th round selection in last years draft, while he was considered a steel at the time, his lack of game time last year (he has yet to take a snap in a game) has left many commentators to speculate at his lack of progress and coaching staff have been quoted as saying he needed to ‘bulk up’ heading into the offseason.
Adrian Peterson
Last but not least is the saga, approaching such epic proportions that Homer would be proud to have penned it, that of what to do with Adrian Peterson. Currently Peterson is still on the commissioners exemption list, when he is removed from this is anyone’s guess. It is unclear if the NFL plan to honour their original April 15th deadline for review or if it is in the hands of the appeals court which could see it prolonged until June at the earliest.
During the interim the NFL stated that the Minnesota Vikings could treat Peterson like an active member of their team in relation to meeting with him and his agent, contract negotiations, trades and releasing him. Peterson’s agent Ben Dogra has stated that the Vikings have no intention of releasing him, something the franchise has validated. This was never an option, Peterson is too valuable a commodity to simply cut ties with, he is still arguably one of the best running backs in the game, and could easily help another team win games.
Dogra has seemingly been given a mission to break Minnesota’s spirits and make them move Peterson. To date he has publicly stating that it was not in his best interest to play for Minnesota any longer, publicly arguing with management at the draft combine and turning down a meeting with Rick Spielman at the owners meeting.
What the future holds? No one knows but Vikings fans just want it resolved, many fans don’t care what the outcome is, they just want it resolved. This saga started the second week of last season; it has been dragged through the courts, the media and the public relations battle. What Peterson did was appalling and many won’t forgive him but his apparent selfishness has irked fans to the point of indifference. Peterson got himself into this situation; it was his actions that caused the last 7 months of a headache. During those 7 months Peterson was paid his full wage (an astonishing $11.75 million) while many in his situation would have lost their jobs he made more money than most will see in a lifetime.
With this information it is little wonder that many fans could not care one way or another, what the outcome is, just as long as it happens. In years previous, the loss of Peterson would have been franchise altering to the point of disaster but last year showed that this team has grown to such an extent that it does not need Peterson to carry it on his back, like in 2012, yes he would take the team to the next level and make them a serious play off contender but there are more ways to skin a cat.
Rick Spielman has shown that no player is bigger than the team with the trading of Percy Harvin; he has also shown that he can get a good deal with disgruntled players. While shipping Peterson off for a suitable bounty of draft picks/players may leave everyone happy in the long term. It is more likely that this saga will drag on well into the pre-season, it appearing more and more likely that Peterson will hold out of training camp in June and beyond.
The Best is Yet to Come
While it may be a frustrating time for a Vikings fan there is a glimmer of hope, we have a quarterback and a manager who are moving the team in the right direction. The offense while not stellar showed it can score points and Teddy Bridgewater is tipped by many to have a breakout 2nd season. The defense came within arms length of being a top ten unit for the first time in years. Players like Harrison Smith, Xavier Rhodes and Sharif Floyd are becoming standouts at their positions. Through the decimation of the offensive line the team still found a way to run the ball, even without Peterson and Jerick McKinnon had a very impressive 4.8 yards a carry.
While these may be a frustrating few months all indications are that the team is heading in the right direction and the future is bright for the purple and gold state.
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