Who wants a 25-year-old Pro Bowl quarterback?

Here we go.

Broncos owner Pat Bowlen says the team will try to accommodate Jay Cutler's request for a trade.

However, the use of the words "try to accommodate" in Bowlen's statement makes it clear that if the Broncos do trade Cutler, it will be on their terms. They won't sell Cutler for 90 cents on the dollar just to get rid of him and avoid a distraction.

And because there are going to be a lot of teams interested in Cutler, the price to get him may have gone up compared to whatever it was going to be when the Vikings tried to swing that three-way trade with the Broncos and the Patriots for Cutler.

Still, I think we're about to see how much the Vikings coaching staff and management really believes in Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson.

I blog from the land of ice and snow ...

My work takes me to Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut this week, where the people are warm, the climate usually isn't and Internet connection can sometimes be cranky.

While I'm here and free of evening family duties, I hope to get some blogging done from the real frozen tundra (Lambeau Field and the old Met have nothing on this place) - a region the actual Vikings are believed to have visited before heading onto to warmer climes a few thousand years ago.

Anyway, today's blog isn't about the historical Vikings but about modern times and the upcoming draft for the Minnesota Vikings.

It's a bit of a fool's errand to even try to do a mock draft of the first round of this meat market considering how things never seem to go as planned.

Obviously, Wes Bunting doesn't mind being foolish, as he published a mock draft for rounds one, two and three on Monday.

And his call on the Vikings first three picks? Offensive tackle Eben Britton, cornerback D.J Moore and free safety Darcel McBath.

I'm down with the Vikings selecting Britton and Moore, but I wonder if the Vikings would select a safety that high when they've already got Madieu Williams and Tyrell Johnson in the fold.

Oh well, it won't matter anyway when the Vikings trade their first and third round picks, plus Chad Greenway, for Jay Cutler.

A voice of reason

One of things football fans tend to do during the offseason is complain about their favourite (Canadian spelling alert!) team not being active enough during free agency. This is something I've certainly been hearing about the Vikings.

Which is why I think Joe Fischer is right to point out that we shouldn't go out and kick the dog just because the Vikings haven't done much to improve themselves – other than sign their own free agents.

After all, while the Vikings offseason has been "quiet" as far as signing players from outside the organization, it's not like management has sat back and done nothing. It has tried to do some significant things.

But unlike last year, when the Vikings got every player they targeted (Bernard Berrian, Madieu Williams, Jared Allen, even Thomas Tapeh), this year they haven't been as fortunate.

Some players the Vikings were thought to be interested in, like offensive tackles Jordan Gross and Vernon Carey, were re-signed by their own teams before hitting the market.

Management also pushed hard to sign T.J. Houshmandzadeh and made a run at fullback Leonard Weaver. And if we're to believe shadowy anonymous sources, the Vikings were part of a three-way trade that included the Patriots and the Broncos and would have netted them Jay Cutler until some members of the coaching staff inexplicably (or maybe it's not all that inexplicable) had second thoughts about acquiring Cutler.

Quarterback remains a concern and there are some other problem areas, like right tackle. But this is a team that went 10-6 last year. Its defence is emerging into a fearsome unit. It's got Adrian Peterson and if Sage Rosenfels can somehow avoid the interception bug, he should beat out Tarvaris Jackson for the starting QB job and the passing game will be much improved.

If the Vikings can pick up an impact player or two in April's draft, this team should be better than it was in 2008 – even though it couldn't land Houshmandzadeh and Weaver.

It's dangerous to drink too much purple koolaid. But there are plenty of reasons to feel good about this team heading into 2009.

The draft
Judd Zulgad of the Access Vikings blog runs down the number of college players the Vikings will bring in for workouts prior to the draft. He also points out that inviting these guys for workouts means nothing. It could all be misdirection by the Vikings in an effort to hide who they really want to draft.

I watch about as much chess as college football these days. But that's not stopping me from providing some impressions about the invitees. Here are those impressions.

Percy Harvin (WR): Fast and dynamic, but can he play all the time? You don't draft guys in the first round to be part-timers.

Darrius Heyward-Bey (WR): Fast but suspect hands. Sounds suspiciously like Troy Williamson. Stay away.

Kenny Britt (WR): Big and fast. Don't know much else about him.

Eben Britton (OT): Has short arms, which I hear is a no-no for an offensive tackle.

Phil Loadholt (OT): Huge guy who struggles with speed rushers.

Darius Butler (CB): Very fast and a great athlete. Might be the best cornerback in the draft.

Alphonso Smith (CB): The mock drafts I've read say he's projected to be an immediate starter.

Greg Toler (CB): This guy's name is ringing absolutely no bells. Help!

Scott Studwell
We should hear more and more about the draft now. It's a month away and excitement is going to build over whom the Vikings should draft.

The man in charge of preparing the Vikings for this important exercise is director of college scouting Scott Studwell.

I loved Studwell as a player. But the Vikings have not drafted well over the years and I've started to wonder whether the Vikings could do better than Studwell. Either his advice is not being listened to by the people making the decisions on draft day, which has resulted in a lot of bad picks. Or those people are listening to Studwell's advice, which has resulted in a lot of bad picks.

Completion percentage and QBs

Here's an another interesting article by the National Football Post's Wes Bunting on using a quarterback's completion percentage in his senior season as a tool in assessing whether he will be a star or a bust in the NFL.

And in case you are curious ...

Tarvaris Jackson's completion percentage in his senior season: 60.9.

Sage Rosenfels' completion percentage during his senior season: 51.5

(Keep in mind Jackson was playing against lesser competition at Alabama State, while Rosenfels was taking on the Oklahoma's and Nebraska's of the college football world at Iowa State.)

So how about that Rosenfels deal?

Maybe Brad Childress, or Darrell Bevell, or quarterback coach Kevin Rogers, or all three of them are that thick.

Noticed this on the Access Vikings blog. An interesting piece by Yahoo's Charles Robinson, especially the nugget of info about the Vikings reportedly being the first to contact the Broncos about Jay Cutler and that the Vikings may have killed the deal they approached the Broncos about making.

This is slowly killing me. Does anybody at Winter Park know how to evaluate quarterbacks?

Clark Judge is entitled to his opinion

Since the Vikings got knocked out of the playoffs, I think 85 to 90 per cent of my posts have been about the team's quarterback situation. So what's one more?

Anyway, I'm blown away by the number of people who don't think pursuing Jay Cutler is a good idea.

However, what should make us cringe about Clark Judge's story is not that a writer who covers the NFL for a living thinks what the Vikings have done about their quarterback situation is fine, but that Vikings head coach Brad Childress apparently feels the same way. Here is how Judge sums up Chilly's state of mind on the Vikings quarterback personnel.

Childress believes there's no need for another quarterback now that the Vikings have Sage Rosenfels. That doesn't mean Rosenfels is the starter, though I'd stake a week's salary on the guy winning the job. What it does mean is that Childress and the Vikings think that between Rosenfels and holdover Tarvaris Jackson they have a legitimate quarterback to take them deep into the playoffs.

Yikes.

If Judge is correct on this, we might as well give up any hope that Childress knows what he's doing. For I fail to see how anybody whose profession is coaching football could look at Jay Cutler and then look at Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson and not think Cutler was a big upgrade over those two guys.

But I don't think Childress actually feels that way. For one, the quotes Judge uses from Childress in this story aren't endorsements of Rosenfels or Jackson but merely the kind of stuff a coach would say not to anger the guys he already has on his team. Also, it was only a month ago that Childress was talking sincerely about Jackson and Gus Frerotte competing for the starting job. A few days later, the Vikings worked out a trade for Rosenfels.

So while I don't think the Vikings will be able to swing a trade for Cutler if the Broncos do decide they have to trade him, I don't think they won't get him because Childress is fine with the quarterbacks he has and didn't try. I mean, surely he's not that thick?

Sticking with Jackson, the NFL Network was nice enough to air the 2007 Vikings-Bears game on Monday where Adrian Peterson went nuts.

In between enjoying Peterson's performance, I couldn't help but notice Jackson, who was 9-23 in that game and just awful. Then I fast-forwarded in my mind to Jackson's play as he led the Vikings into the playoffs and thought, 'You know, he really has improved.' Then I remembered how he played in the playoff loss to Philly and I snapped out of it. Then I started thinking about Jay Cutler again.

Star-Tribune blogger Michael Rand described it well after that playoff loss. His comment was Jackson can win a certain kind of game for you - the game where he's facing a so-so defence and the Vikings running game is working and he doesn't have to do too much.

But ask T-Jack to make some plays against a good defence, or bring the team back from behind in the dying minutes of a close contest, and that's a game he's not going to win for you nine times out of 10. And really, that's what the Vikings need out of their quarterback if they are going to seriously challenge for a Super Bowl. But Jackson is never going to give you that, so I wish people would stop pretending he will.

Other links
The NFL is seriously looking at extending its regular season.

Joe Fischer continues to dissect the language Roger Goodell uses when talking about the Vikings stadium issue.

Kevin Seifert thinks the Vikings stadium uncertainty could go on longer than 2011.

The Ragnarok looks at the recent signings of Cedric Griffin and kick returner Glenn Holt. No one gets as fired up about special teams as this guy.

And Football Outsiders has posted its 2009 mock draft and even accounted for trades and everything in it. But one of the trades they don't see happening is Jay Cutler to the Vikings in exchange for the Vikes #22 pick. Instead, author Bill Barnwell thinks the Vikes will select wide receiver Jeremy Maclin.

Cornerback

The Vikings have signed Cedric Griffin to an extension.

In the Pioneer Press blog post, Brad Childress is quoted as saying Griffin's "best football is in front of him."

It better be. For much of Griffin's three-year NFL career, the University of Texas alum has been known more for giving up eight-yard cushions to opposing receivers than anything else. And opponents facing the Vikings defence have thrown Griffin's way without mercy – with good-to-great results most of the time. Ask any Viking fan who has watched the team closely since 2006 and they will tell you Griffin's a weak link on an otherwise strong unit.

However, I felt Griffin played much better late last season – starting with the win over Jacksonville. He was no longer a liability. I even started to trust him a bit.

He's always been able to tackle. What he hasn't been able to do is prevent passes from being completed on him so he doesn't have to be such a good tackler.

Griffin is the first player from the Vikings draft class of 2006 that was in the final year of his contract and has been extended. There's been no extension for Ray Edwards. No extension for Tarvaris Jackson. And no extension for Ryan Cook (2006 first round pick Chad Greenway's deal runs until 2010, I think).

Antoine Winfield is also in the final year of his contract. But my guess is because he's 30-something, he's going to get the Matt Birk "let's-wait-and-see-how-the-old-man-holds-up" treatment from Vikings management. What he won't get is the Darren Sharper "don't-let-the-door-hit-you-on-the-way-out" treatment.

Good thing March Madness is on

Here's your daily smile. Someone thinks more highly of Naufahu Tahi than the Vikings.

The Vikings are interested in signing Seattle fullback Leonard Weaver to replace Tahi. (Update: Weaver has signed with the Eagles.) But if that doesn't work out, couldn't Jeff Dugan do the job? The Vikes started handing the ball to Dugan in short yardage situations at the end of last year and as a tight end, he's a better pass receiver than Tahi ever was. And he can block. And he's under contract. And he's cheap.

Here is the latest on the Jay Cutler situation.

If the Broncos are indeed going to try and smooth things over with Cutler, I think that's the right call by Denver management. But I still think the team will trade him by draft day. I wonder if the Vikings are one of the 10 teams that called about Cutler?

Finally, the National Football Post's Wes Bunting has been producing all sorts of interesting stories about potential draftees this winter. Here is one on some of the better middle linebacker prospects.

Trent Dilfer dishes on Cutler situation

No need to worry about the Vikings trading for Jay Cutler. Trent Dilfer doesn't think he's that good.

As a former quarterback who had some (limited) success in the league, I'm interested in Dilfer's opinion on Cutler. But I think Dilfer provides some pretty dubious logic in his answer to this question from Judd Zulgad.

Q: Are you comfortable with the Vikings having Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson battle for the starting spot?

A: "I’m one of the few guys who doesn’t have a problem with what they’re doing. Their team is built from the inside out both on the defensive and offensive side. That works. It worked for the Steelers, it worked for the Ravens, it worked for other teams. … I think if the quarterback understands, whoever wins the job, that he has to play critical downs better that is the key. It’s not about first and second down all the time. You have to make sure you’re playing well on third down and capitalize on red-zone opportunities. If the quarterback has that perspective on it, the Vikings are definitely Super Bowl contenders."

Based on this answer, Dilfer doesn't seem to think the quarterback position is as important as other people do. And I'd expect Dilfer to feel that way – after all, he's the poster child for the term "game manager quarterback." The term may have even been coined after Dilfer won his Super Bowl with Baltimore in 2001.

That doesn't mean he's right though. He mentions the Steelers as an example of a team built from the inside out both offensively and defensively. But I don't think the Steelers would have got to two Super Bowls in the past four years, and won them, without Ben Roethlisberger.

And let's look at the Super Bowl champs and who quarterbacked them from 1999-2009.

2009 – Steelers (Ben Roethlisberger, elite QB)
2008 - Giants (Eli Manning, solid QB)
2007 – Colts (Peyton Manning, elite QB)
2006 – Steelers (Roethlisberger)
2005 – Patriots (Tom Brady, elite QB)
2004 – Patriots (Brady)
2003 – Buccaneers (Brad Johnson, game manager QB)
2002 – Patriots (Brady)
2001 – Ravens (Dilfer, game manager QB)
2000 – Rams (Kurt Warner, elite QB)
1999 – Broncos (John Elway, Hall of Famer)

So, yeah, you can be successful and win a Super Bowl with a Dilfer or Brad Johnson, or Sage Rosenfels or maybe even Tarvaris Jackson. But it doesn't happen very often. And if a better quarterback – possibly an elite quarterback – is available, the Vikings are silly if they don't explore what it would take to get him.

Dilfer also talks about the Viking quarterbacks having to play critical downs better and if Rosenfels or Jackson can just understand they need to play better on those downs, then the Vikings will be Super Bowl contenders.

The thing is, I'm sure Rosenfels and Jackson do understand this. I'm sure Brad Childress and Darrell Bevell will talk about this until their throats are all dry and scratchy. It's just that Rosenfels and Jackson haven't been able to pull it off enough so far in their careers. And I don't think that's a mental thing, or even an experience thing, it's a talent thing. Better quarterbacks will play better on critical downs because they are better.

So I'll accept it if the Vikings go into 2009 with Rosenfels and Jackson competing for the starting job. But I will not feel comfortable about it.

The Jay Cutler Experience

Jay Cutler needs a new team. The Minnesota Vikings need a quarterback. It's time for Rick Spielman to get on the phone and dial the Denver area code.

I encourage everyone to read the ESPN story linked in Judd Zulgad's post above. Josh McDaniels isn't blameless in this, but the more I read, the more I'm wary of Cutler. He comes off as a diva - thin-skinned, hyper sensitive, and someone you'd have to coddle and pacify every other day to keep happy. That kind of player can wear a team down.

But the guy threw for over 4,000 yards last year. He went to the Pro Bowl. He's 25-years-old.

Last year the Vikings made a bold move. They traded three high draft picks for Jared Allen. Things had gotten messy in Kansas City over a new contract and Allen wanted out. Allen came with a risk, as he had an alcohol problem and was one mistake away from a year-long suspension. Some Viking fans thought the risk was too great. The Vikings made the deal anyway.

It's time for the Vikings to attempt another bold move. Cutler will cost them some high draft picks and maybe a player or two. But the payoff could be huge.

Of course, as bad as things are, the Broncos don't have to trade Cutler. He is under contract to them. But when a player wants out as badly as Cutler wants out, the player usually gets his way.

Do the Vikings have the right assets to convince the Broncos to trade Cutler to them? Spielman has to at least try to find out.

Karl who?

The Vikings have finally signed a free agent outside the organization and it's cornerback Karl Paymah, who played for the Denver Broncos in 2008.

Don't feel too bad if you've never heard of Paymah. I hadn't either until word got out two weeks ago that the Vikings were trying to bring him in for a visit.

You might remember that last season Denver's defence gave up 448 points - only St. Louis (2-14) and Detroit (0-16) gave up more. Football Outsiders defensive statistics had Denver's unit ranked second-last in the NFL in 2008. And Paymah couldn't start for them. So it's easy to understand why the Vikings tried so hard to get him. (Yes, that was sarcasm on my part.)

But I hear Paymah's good on specials teams, so there's that, at least.

Torry Holt! Torry Holt!

The St. Louis Rams released wide receiver Torry Holt today. They did it mostly to free up some salary cap space and so the 32-year-old Holt wouldn't take away playing time from their younger receivers.

When NFL Network analyst Rod Woodson was asked for his take on the move, he said, "Younger doesn't necessarily mean better in the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE." (By the way, Woodson has this habit - Ron Jaworski and Chris Collinsworth do it as well - where anytime he mentions the league, he can't just say "the NFL", it's always "the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE." It's like by pronouncing the full name rather than the acronym, he's indicating the global importance of the league. This never gets old for me.)

Anyway, there's been speculation that the Vikings might go after Holt if he got released.

But I don't know about that. If you look at the free agents the Vikings have signed since Brad Childress became head coach and Rick Spielman took over player personnel, it's pretty clear the pair don't think like Rod Woodson.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh was one notable exception, but other than him, the free agents the Vikings have gone after the past three years have all been players in their mid-to-late twenties - players who could be expected to play four or five seasons for the team.

What Childress and Spielman have resisted doing thus far is applying band aids to roster weaknesses. They don't sign veterans on the downside of their careers who might be able to help the Vikings for a season or two.

So while Holt might make sense for a team that still needs to get better at wide receiver, I'd be surprised if the Vikings try very hard to sign him.

The other thing to consider with Holt is how much better is he than Bobby Wade - the guy on the Vikings who he would be replacing as a starter.

Last year Wade had 53 catches for 643 yards and two touchdowns. Holt had 64 catches for 796 yards and three touchdowns. In Football Outsiders statistical analysis, Holt ranked 67 among all wide receivers in 2008. Bobby Wade ranked 71st.

Now when the 2009 season starts, Holt will be just two years - in the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE - removed from a 93 catch, 1,189-yard, seven touchdown season. But Holt will be 33 when that season starts and when you're 33 - in the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE - two years can be a loooooong time.

Mike Lombardi at the National Football Post writes all the time about team's needing their players to improve five-to-10 per cent from the year before to get better.

Would Torry Holt be a five-to-10 per cent improvement over Bobby Wade? At Holt's age, I'd say the answer is "no."

Minimum standards

Tarvaris Jackson speaks and speaks some more on Sirius radio.

Since the trade for Sage Rosenfels, I've assumed the former Texan would be the Vikings starting quarterback in 2009. But Brad Childress hasn't anointed him as the starter, and he's trying to give off the appearance that there will at least be a competition between Rosenfels and Jackson for the number one job.

But whomever does win the job should keep a few benchmark numbers in mind. The numbers are as follows: 3,000-plus passing yards, a 60 percent or better completion rate and roughly a 2-1 touchdown pass/interception ratio. If Rosenfels or Jackson can't meet those standards, they can't expect to remain the Vikings starting quarterback.

The Vikings are past the stage where a game manager at quarterback suffices. They sort of had that last season and were a one-and-done playoff team. This team needs a game changer to become a championship contender. If Rosenfels or Jackson can meet the minimum QB standards mentioned above, that will go a long way towards getting the Vikings there.

Stop teasing us

The Access Vikings blog featured this link today, which indicates the Jay Cutler dispute in Denver is not over yet.

There's no reference to the Vikings in the story, but if Cutler and new head coach Josh McDaniels can't fix their working relationship, then there is at least a possibility Cutler could be traded, which means there is at least a possibility the Vikings could trade for Cutler.

Could a draft day deal involving, say, Chester Taylor (the Broncos need a dependable running back) and a draft pick or two be enough for the Broncos?

Scanning the reader comments in the various stories about the dispute, a lot of fans think Cutler is being a baby and should have dealt with his concerns privately. Mel Kiper Jr. also said as much on ESPN this weekend (I can't find the link to the podcast anymore) and also called Cutler overrated, compared him somewhat to Jeff George, and asked what has Cutler won to have the nerve to bitch publicly about possibly being traded.

Perhaps Cutler is a high maintenance guy, but I also think a 25-year-old player, who has completed 62.5 per cent of his passes during his career, thrown for over 9,000 yards and 54 touchdown passes, has a Pro Bowl under his belt, and is under contract for three more years, is not someone you really want to trade.

But the Vikings did trade Randy Moss because he was supposedly a me-first, pain-in-the-ass distraction. That turned out well for the Vikings.

The glass is half full edition

If you scroll down to the end of this story, you'll find a list of players the Vikings have signed since free agency started (minus Benny Sapp, but more on that later).

The list should probably include a “Just missed” section with the T.J. Houshmandzadeh's under it. While I was disappointed the Vikings couldn’t sign Houshmandzadeh, I’m not disappointed I’ll no longer have to spell his last name. Besides, Sidney Rice could make us forget about Houshmandzadeh.

Houshmandzadeh will be 32 before the 2009 season ends. He is not going to get any better. At best, the Seahawks will get two good-to-great years out of him before they enter into the annual cut him/don’t cut him territory teams face when they sign older players to expensive, long-term contracts.

So if Rice can catch 50-plus passes for 600-700 yards, plus increase his touchdown catch total, losing Houshmandzadeh to the Seahawks will have been a blessing. That type of year sees the Vikings offer Rice a contract extension. And if Rice signs it, the Vikings will lock up an improving 23-year-old receiver for a long time and they’ll have him a lot longer than the Seahawks will have Houshmandzadeh.

Rosenfels and Visanthe Shiancoe
I was going to write a blurb about how Visanthe Shiancoe has to be happy that Sage Rosenfels is on his team. The genesis of the idea must have come from thinking back to Houston’s visit to the Metrodome, where Texans starting tight end Owen Daniels caught 11 passes for 133 yards from Matt Schaub and Rosenfels.

But that angle got shot to hell when I started researching the statistics Daniels put up playing with Schaub and Rosenfels. In the games each quarterback started and finished, Daniels averaged 3.6 catches and 39.7 yards per game when Rosenfels was his QB and 4.7 catches and 59.3 yards per game when Schaub was his QB.

Mind you, if Shiancoe averages 3.6 catches and 39.7 yards per game with Rosenfels (I’m assuming he’ll beat out Tarvaris Jackson, which might be assuming too much), that would give Shiancoe about 57 catches and 635 yards in 2009 – both career-high totals.

Where was I going with this again?

Rosenfels, continued
In the running argument going on in my head since the Rosenfels trade – the argument where I try to talk myself into believing he can improve the Vikings quarterback situation just enough to turn a 10-win team into a 12-win team – I see a lot of stats to like.

Rosenfel’s got a high completion percentage, the sack rate is good and the yards-per-pass-attempt is good. But the touchdown/interception ratio is not so good.

But that ratio is skewed somewhat by stats from his time as a reserve in Miami (a 6-6 TD/INT ratio) when he didn’t have the game experience he has now. And, in 2008, four of his 10 interceptions came in a blowout loss against a Baltimore defence that was one of the best in the NFL. So I’m thinking the concern that Rosenfels is Frerotteian when it comes to throwing interceptions might be overblown.

Am I reaching too much to convince myself that Rosenfels could be the answer for the Vikings? Absolutely. What we can say about Rosenfels is he’s the youngest and best career backup quarterback Brad Childress has ever traded for.

Cassel watch
The two teams I follow closely in the NFL besides the Vikings are the Packers and the Bears. I’ve also taken to following the Patriots ever since Randy Moss joined the team because my sports love affair with Ole’ 84 refuses to die.

In 2009 there will be one more team I’ll be following – the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s not because the Chiefs interest me but because Matt Cassel interests me – a player some NFL experts thought the Vikings would go after. That the Chiefs got him and linebacker Mike Vrabel from New England for a second round pick seems like a pretty reasonable gamble to me.

The Vikings chose not to take that gamble. Or maybe they weren’t given the opportunity. Either way, I’ll be watching Cassel in 2009. If he stinks it up in K.C., it will be the first sign that Brad Childress and Rick Spielman possibly might know what they are doing when it comes to picking quarterbacks. But if Cassel plays well in K.C., it's more evidence suggesting Childress and Spielman don’t know how to evaluate the sport’s most important position.

Another (yawn) signing
The Vikes have re-signed reserve defensive back Benny Sapp.

Sapp took some dumb penalties at times last year but overall he seemed to play decently. I don’t think this is a bad signing. But it probably doesn’t say much about Marcus McCauley’s future with the team.

You might remember when the Vikings drafted McCauley in the third round in 2007, there was talk the Vikes got a first round talent. Now McCauley barely dresses on Sundays and Sapp’s signing means that won’t change next season.

It's the choices you make in life

While debating the merits of the Vikings trading a fourth-round draft pick for Sage Rosenfels and mourning over an alleged three-way deal that would have sent Jay Cutler to the Vikings that fell through, let’s not forget the 2006 offseason, where a series of personnel decisions put the team in quarterback purgatory it's being trying to get out of ever since.

The first decision concerned Drew Brees. He was a free agent in 2006 but was coming off a serious shoulder injury. He wanted to re-sign with San Diego. But the Chargers decided to go with Philip Rivers instead. So Brees landed with the New Orleans Saints, a team coming off a 3-13 season. The Vikings, who were 9-7 in 2005 and had 37-year-old Brad Johnson and a disenchanted Daunte Culpepper on the roster, showed no interest in Brees, even though it’s vice-president of player personnel at the time, Fran Foley, had worked in the Chargers front office during Brees's time there.

The second decision concerned Jay Cutler. Before the 2006 draft, there was talk new head coach Brad Childress was hot for Cutler (I also remember reading he liked Brodie Croyle) and the Vikings might trade up in the first round to get him.

The Vikings chose not to do this. Instead, Minnesota watched Denver work a trade with St. Louis to select Cutler with the 11th overall pick (the Rams chose defensive back Tye Hill, something I’m sure they regret now). The Vikings got their own “quarterback of the future”, Tarvaris Jackson, with the last pick in the second round.

Before I criticize the Vikings too much, let's be clear here – there were significant risks in acquiring any of the three players mentioned above.

Brees was a risk because no one was sure if he could throw the ball as well as he once had after tearing his labrum and partially tearing his rotator cuff on his right throwing shoulder. Cutler was a risk because he was a talented but unproven rookie. And Jackson was a risk because he was also a talented but unproven rookie – with the added risk that he had played against lesser competition than Cutler.

So all three were risks. It's just that the Vikings chose to take the player who was the biggest risk. And that risk has not paid off, which is why, every year since, the team has traded draft picks for career backups like Brooks Bollinger, Kelly Holcomb and now Sage Rosenfels.

Drafting
Among the free agents the Vikings have publicly pursued, the team has gone one-for-three so far.

A .333 batting average is great in baseball. It’s less great when you’re going after free agents in football and you have $32-million in cap space to throw at them and you’ve got guys like Jared Allen and Adrian Peterson already on your team and you just went 10-6 and won a division title, which should make it easier to entice free agents to sign here.

But perhaps it’s for the best. The 2009 free agent class is really weak and it might not be any stronger next year or the year after or the year after that. Teams have lots of cap space now and most (except Washington) have learned how to work the cap and stay well under it. They are signing their own players – the ones they really want to keep – before they ever get a chance to hit the free market.

If I were Zygi Wilf, I’d view this year’s free agent pool as a sign of the times and start investing heavily in my scouting department. If another team has a scout who’s got an uncanny talent at unearthing NFL talent at the college level, I’d offer him more money – a lot more money – to work for me. Then I'd hire 10 more just like him. I’d fill my scouting department with the best and brightest football minds I could find. I’d pay them well and make them feel valued.

And I’d do that because if free agency continues to go the way it’s going, improving a team is going to get a lot harder. Free agency won’t offer a quick fix, where you can throw money at roster problems and sign players with established track records from other teams. The quantity of good players isn't there. Building through the draft and finding diamonds in the rough among college free agents will be more important than ever.

Despite what some Vikings fans will tell you, the team has not drafted well the past decade. That’s forced the Vikes to patch holes through free agency. But because it’s looking like that won’t be an option any longer, now is the time for Wilf to put an emphasis on college scouting like no other team in the NFL.

Terrell Owens
And finally, for anyone who thinks Terrell Owens might be a good fit with the Vikings, I bring you this post from Football Outsiders. Although the thought that Childress and Owens would team up again is laughable anyway.

Free agency update
The Vikings are now two-for-four in free agency. They have re-signed Heath Farwell.

So long, Matty B

ESPN is reporting Baltimore has signed Matt Birk away from the Vikings.

So the Vikes lose a class guy and hometown hero. Whether they have lost a good player or not is up for debate.

I don't know enough about the subtleties of offensive line play to offer much more than an ill-informed opinion on this (how is that any different than any of my other opinions you might ask? Let's not go there today). So I'll leave it to this former NFL executive to shed some light on what losing Birk will mean to the Vikings offence in 2008.

It's strange. Before free agency hit, I wasn't concerned about losing Birk at all. Now I am. I'm even feeling a little blue.

Has the dream died already?

The Denver Broncos are trying to put an end to this talk that they will trade Jay Cutler.

I'd say this thing is over – except it's a Broncos spokesperson giving the football public the George Bush 'Read my lips" treatment. Why isn't head coach Josh McDaniels or the Broncos GM saying this? However, as so many have pointed out, why would the Broncos trade Cutler when they almost made the playoffs last season and Cutler was the main reason why?

Josh McDaniels seems like too smart a guy to do this and too smart a guy not to patch up a frayed relationship with his star quarterback.

Has anyone noticed Jeff Garcia is still available?

Don't expect much ...

... from this blog in the next couple of days, that is.

Work is going to prevent me from posting anything of significance. And to anyone who may care – sorry about that.

But let's recap free agency 2009 so far for the Vikings. It goes something like this. Jim Kleinsasser – welcome back. Sage Rosenfels – welcome aboard. T. J. Houshmandzadeh – go fuck yourself. Vinny Ciurcui – as Marv Albert would say, "Yesssssss!"

And finally, the Vikings may or may not have tried to trade for Jay Cutler and they may or may not still be trying to trade for him. While Viking fans dream about Cutler in purple, what's notable is that I haven't read anything the past 24 hours suggesting trade talks are still on or that the Vikings are still interested. So this ship may have already sailed.

Update
Well, I guess there is this story about the Vikings still trying to trade for Jay Cutler.

My bad.

No deal with T.J.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh has left Minnesota and he didn't leave wearing a Vikings uniform.

I can't think of a case in the recent past where a free agent has left a visit with an interested team without a contract and still ended up signing there. So if the Vikings were going to land the Bengals wide receiver, they probably had to do it over the weekend. This isn't good news, but it's not over yet. And now we have Jay Cutler rumors to chat about.

Update
It appears Houshmandzadeh has chosen the Seahawks over the Vikings and the Bengals. It's a disappointing turn of events. But it's also not surprising after Houshmandzadeh left Minnesota without a contract.

Did the Vikings quarterback situation play a large role in Houshmandzadeh's decision (a healthy Matt Hasselback is better than a healthy Sage Rosenfels or Tarvaris Jackson)? Or was it the money?

I'd say it was the money. It's almost always the money in pro sports. The Seahawks gave him five years and $15-million guaranteed.

I know there were some negatives to Houshmandzadeh – like his age and declining yards per catch totals – but his skills would have fit nicely with the Vikings. Now fans have to hope Sidney Rice makes the leap he didn't make last year.

And let's not be happy that the Vikings didn't "overpay" to sign the former Pro Bowler. It's Zygi Wilf's money. As long as he doesn't wreck the Vikings salary cap for future generations and improves the team in the process, I don't care how much it costs to sign a guy.

Now wake me up once those Jay Cutler rumblings stop.