Speculation season

Once the Super Bowl ends, speculation season begins in the NFL. Who will stay? Who will go? Who will your team draft?

You'll be reading a bunch about all of this over the next three months.

With that in mind, here is the first round of offseason speculation regarding the Vikings.

Brett Favre
Expect this to be a hot topic for, oh, the next seven months or so.

Judd Zulgad writes about Brett Favre coming back for a second season.

What caught my eye was this line by Zulgad in the post:

"Although Favre indicated to some after the Vikings loss to the Saints in the NFC title game that he might be done, the general belief is that he will return next season."

But is that the general belief or the general hope?

I don't think Favre will be back. If his reason for returning last season was to prove to the Packers and his doubters that he could still play (and I think it was), he did that in 2009.

The only way to go for Favre in 2010 is down, especially with the schedule looking very tough for the team next year.

The Vikings better start making serious inquiries into Donovan McNabb's availability.

Chester Taylor
Zulgad also posts about Chester Taylor's future with the Vikings.

I'm a Taylor fan. Love his attitude. Love his ability. Love the way he plays.

But Taylor averaged just 3.6 yards per carry in 2009, his worst total since his rookie year, and he had just one run that went for 20 yards or longer.

Did I mention he'll be 31 by the time your 2010 calendar hits October, an age where most NFL running backs have outlived their usefulness?

Unless he's willing to resign on the cheap, Taylor won't be back in 2010. I'm okay with that.

There appears to be no obvious successor to Taylor on the Vikings roster right now. But I think second year player Albert Young could provide just as much bang for less bucks than Taylor.

I only watched Young perform in preseason and garbage time against the Giants this year. However, I was favorably impressed with Young's improvement compared to his rookie year when he was practice squad fodder. He runs hard. He seems to pass block okay. And he catches the ball well out of the backfield.

Of course, you're kind of screwed if Adrian Peterson has a serious injury and is lost for a significant part of the season. But I don't think that is a reason to pay big bucks for a player with (perhaps) fading skills.

Antonio Pierce
E.J. Henderson's return in 2010 is a big question mark for the Vikings.

Jasper Brinkley's ability to ably fill in for Henderson if #56 can't go in 2010 is an even bigger question mark.

So would signing a well-known veteran like Antonio Pierce be a good insurance policy?

If you think it might be, just read a few of the posted remarks on this in the Football Outsiders comments section on Pierce getting cut.

Back when Mike Tice was still coaching the team, the Vikings made a strong push to sign Pierce, but lost out to the Giants. This eventually cleared the way for Henderson to take over and develop into a very good middle linebacker.

There's no indication right now that the Vikings are interested in Pierce. But if they are, they might be wise to remember the history behind Henderson's development and that it could happen again with Brinkley.

The draft
There's going to be a gazillion of these mock drafts over the next couple of months, but for what it is worth, here is one that predicts the Vikings will select Florida State cornerback Patrick Robinson.