Well, say goodbye to the Minnesota Vikings free agent class of 2008. Fullback Thomas Tapeh played two games for the Vikes and was let go. Safety Madieu Williams was cut after the lockout ended for salary cap and performance reasons. And now wide receiver Bernard Berrian is gone.
Vikings fans everywhere are rejoicing right now. Berrian hasn’t made an impact in the passing game since 2008 and despite his contention that, as he put it a few weeks ago “he’s been open for four years,” the stats don’t lie.
The failure of Berrian and the rest of the 2008 free agents got me thinking about how long this Vikings rebuilding project is going to take. This squad has many holes and the holes seem to multiply each week (For example, right guard Anthony Herrera might not be great, but who replaces him if he’s blown out his knee again?)
The draft is very important, but it’s only seven rounds and a 1-6 team like the Vikings can’t possibly address every need it has that way in order to turn things around quickly. Trades can help, but you’ve got to give up something – usually draft picks – to get something.
Free agency used to be viewed as a shortcut to rebuilding in the NFL. As long as you had salary cap space, you could buy the talent you needed. But it doesn’t seem to work that well anymore. Teams have learned how to use the cap and are able to sign the players they really want to keep. Thus, it's generally very thin gruel on the free agent market, and often the player you just signed isn’t the answer to your problem. Instead he’s somebody else’s problem that you’ve paid big money for.
So for the Vikings to climb the ladder in the NFC North and get back to being a playoff team, they are going to have to have the younger players already on the roster develop quickly (especially first-year QB Christian Ponder) and hit some home runs on their draft picks over the next couple of seasons.
As the cases of Bernard Berrian, Madieu Williams and Thomas Tapeh illustrate, free agency might not be of much help.
Ponder watch
My taping job of Sunday’s Vikings-Packers game didn’t work out very well, so I had to wait to watch the condensed version of the game on NFL Replay tonight to see how Ponder played in his first pro start.
How do you think he fared? The reviews generally seem to be positive, although after watching the game it looked like he could have been picked off five or six times instead of twice. He’s going to have to clean that up.
What I did like was at no time did he not appear to be in control of the offence. Nor did he seem flustered by anything the Packers threw at him or any mistakes he made. It might not sound like much, but I think that’s an important psychological trait for an NFL quarterback to have. I’m looking forward to seeing how he plays this Sunday against Carolina.
* By the way, Chris Cook says sorry. However, that didn't stop the Vikings from suspending him.
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3 comments:
Was anyone besides Childress and co. ever truly convinced that Berrian could be a legitimate WR1? I was truly disappointed when I found out what kind of money the Vikes signed him for -- $42 million for a guy with no 1000 yard seasons.
If the allegations against Cook are even halfway true, I want him gone. If the Falcons can cut ties with Vick for his animal cruelty, the Vikes sure as hell can say goodbye to a mediocre corner. We may not have much talent to replace him with, but he's still way more replaceable than Vick. I guess it's a pretty easy decision if Cook gets any kind of significant jail time.
Bismuth:
I didn't think Berrian was a #1 receiver, but the Vikings had a need at the time and I thought he was the best free agent option out there.
As for Cook, I think he's played pretty well this season. It also sounds like he won't get any jail time but will be put on probation. This kid needs some counselling.
I do think the Vikings will probably release him though, although there are some labor union issues they have to watch out for if they do that.
True, the FA pickings were pretty slim, which is probably also the reason behind the price tag. But I still think the organization overvalued him in terms of both his contract, and their expectations of his performance. Though, perhaps their hands were pretty well tied by the lack of good free agent WRs and the large number of other, probably more important holes to fill.
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