Now here's a surprise

The Vikings have released kick returner/running back Maurice Hicks.

Let the Darius Reynaud era begin.

In all seriousness though, I hope the Vikings give Reynaud a legit shot at winning the kick-off return role in '09. He had two 40-yard kick-off returns in limited action last season. He looks like he has some ability in this area.

I also hope the catch-and-release aspect of the Hicks affair has the Vikings re-examining how they evaluate the return game. From Keenan Howry and Bobby Wade and their frequent fair-catch signals on punts to Hicks blindly running into a wall of defenders on kick-offs, the return game has been undynamic, unexciting and, mostly, a liability for some time at Winter Park. The organization does not seem to value this part of the game. Which is odd – teams with offences that struggle to sustain long drives benefit from the consistently good field position a good return game can bring.

Perhaps new special teams coordinator Brian Murphy recognizes this and will look for players with a special talent for these roles, rather than just sticking guys in there because the team has no other option.

More praise for Chilly
I enjoy Football Outsiders' "Four Downs" posts. But Tuesday's post on the NFC West includes a line that gives Vikings fans more reason to wonder (scroll down to the eighth paragraph) if head coach Brad Childress will ever amount to anything.

Jeff Garcia!
I've been stumping for the Vikings to sign Jeff Garcia for a couple of weeks now. The Ragnarok takes a closer look at the apple of my eye.

I get the feeling that Garcia will not be coming to Minnesota. If Vikings beat writer Judd Zulgad's opinions are to be believed (and I like Zulgad's work), the Vikes are going to make a run at Matt Cassel.

So be it. Let's trade seven or eight draft picks for Cassel. It'll be fun. But I still think Garcia makes a lot of sense for the Vikings based on what else is out there. The problem with Garcia (besides his age, injury history and arm strength) could be that he is quick to scurry around in the pass pocket. I've read that this habit drove Jon Gruden crazy. I suspect it would also drive Brad Childress crazy.

So Childress doesn't like Garcia's helter skelter style and that's why he has no interest in him. That's my latest theory.

The thing is, Garcia may run around like a maniac in the pass pocket, but he's never thrown more than 13 interceptions in a season. For a guy who preaches about taking care of the ball so much, you'd think Childress would recognize Garcia has always done an excellent job at that.