I was beginning to get a bit disappointed with Brad Childress. It looked like he was clean and had kicked the habit of acquiring mediocre-to-poor ex-Philadelphia Eagles.
In 2006 he brought in Artis Hicks, Mike McMahon, Todd Pinkston (running on one leg) and Billy McMullen. In 2007 he brought in Kelly Holcomb. Last year he resisted the urge. But he's fallen off the wagon and it's cost Bobby Wade a roster spot. Time for Childress to check back into rehab.
I don't know what Greg Lewis brings to the team besides his Eagles pedigree. But I did like Wade. On a team with a brutal wide receiving corps, I felt I could count on him. He wouldn't post big numbers and he wouldn't score many touchdowns, but he was a good blocker (not an insignificant skill on a Vikings team that runs the ball a lot) and he'd catch what was thrown to him.
But this is another sign of how much the talent of the Vikings receivers has improved since 2006. Bernard Berrian and Sidney Rice have more talent and potential than Wade. They are the starters. And Percy Harvin looks like he can do what Wade did – that is, catch short passes in front of defensive backs and linebackers – only Harvin can do it better and much faster. Then there's Jaymar Johnson and Darius Reynaud, who are more explosive athletes than Wade. It's a young group, with a lot of potential, but not much of a track record of success in the NFL. Lewis is just an extra body, who will come even cheaper than Wade. Now we'll wait for the Lions to claim Wade off waivers.
If you're still feeling blue about the loss of Wade, check out this Q & A with Football Outsiders writer Bill Barnwell, where he briefly talks about Wade's value to the Vikings.
Correction
After doing some research after posting the article, I forgot that Childress did not cure his addiction to ex-Eagles in 2008. In fact, the Vikes signed the incredible Thomas Tapeh, who couldn't beat out the equally incredible Naufahu Tahi for the starting fullback job. Tapeh was cut after two games.
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5 comments:
wtf, wtf, wtf, wtf. That's all I can say about picking up Greg "I was a Eagle" lewis and dumping our leading receiver of the past two years who took a pay cut to stay with the team. I'm sorry but this is the type of thing that turns a locker room against a coach.
Anon:
No doubt a douchy thing to do, getting a good guy like Wade to agree to cutting his salary and then releasing him. It also makes the Vikes look like they don't quite know what they are doing. But in another way, they may have done Wade a favor. He obviously wasn't going to get much playing time behind Berrian, Rice and Harvin. Cutting him now allows him to sign with a team that needs him (hello, Lions!) and he can play with that team for the whole year, not just part of the year.
Locker room wise, it's hard to say what affect it will have because we're not in there. But you would think they would have been more upset about the handling of the Favre situation than this. As always in sports, win and this will be forgotten pretty quickly, especially if Rice and Harvin – the guys who are replacing Wade – play better than Wade at his best ever could.
Well said, anonymous. They must have really hated Wade to do him that way.
When Childress hires Andy Reid's boys for coordinator positions, that's when it's time for an Eaglestrashaholics intervention.
Good grief. If just one of these bums worked out, I could let it go. But they're all trash... and Chili just wants to give his old buddies a job.
I've read some things about a couple of the points you made... I haven't seen any "real" articles about this stuff... just speculation.
I actually heard that Thomas Tapeh was let go because he lied to the team about some injury issues. I think Tapeh would've been a better fullback than Tahi. I think Jeff Dugan is a better fullback than Tahi.
As for Lewis, I hope this isn't true, but I read where one fan was speculating that this could mean that Berrian is worse off than we know. As you mentioned, Harvin can do what Wade did, and it probably won't be long before we're saying he does it much better. But Lewis provides somewhat of a deep threat. Not up to Berrian's level, but much higher than Wade's. Is it possible that Childress is doubting how much of an impact that Berrian can be in the opening weeks?
Jason - http://www.TheVikingShip.net
Jason:
I am concerned Berrian (and Jim Kleinsasser) may not be able to play against the Browns. Both players haven't been doing much in team workouts this week.
The Vikings passing game won't be quite the same without Berrian in the lineup and the loss of Kleinsasser's run and pass blocking abilities is not to be underestimated.
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