NFL Free Agency Preview 2012: Minnesota Vikings

This is a pivotal off season for the Vikings. They obviously have a ton of needs coming off a 3-13 season. Currently they have 17 free agents (Patrick Brown has already been re-signed). Many of those 17 will not be back. The Vikings will clear even more cap space by releasing and/or restructing the contracts of several veterans. Steve Hutchinson, Cedric Griffin, Anthony Herrera and Antoine Winfield are the main candidates to be let loose or have their contracts re-done. Once the dust settles the Vikes are expected to have around $20 million in cap space to play with. Will they be major free agency players? Only time will tell.

A run down of the Vikings’ free agents and what I expect they’ll do with each of them:

Restricted

Lorenzo Booker RB – May have increased value with Adrian Peterson possibly missing the start of the season. Has fumbling problems. Doesn’t figure to be anything more than a 3rd down back/kick returner even if they bring him back.

Kenny Onatolu LB – Expect him to return. He’s a special teams ace.

Unrestricted

Husain Abdullah S – He suffered two concussions last year and talked of retiring. Doctors have given him the all-clear however and he’s expected to continue playing. Has been the Vikings’ most solid safety the last couple of years, which isn’t saying much. The Vikes will upgrade at safety but Abdullah should still be back, at least as a back-up.

Xavier Adibi LB – Came in to provide depth after Jasper Brinkley’s season-ending surgery. Spent most of the year on the practice squad. Could return but his role won’t be very prominent. Isn’t in the mix for middle linebacker.

Devin Aromashodu WR – Had a couple good games, notably against Denver. But had severe drop problems and just never became the consistent deep threat the Vikings hoped he would be. Could come back as a #4 receiver.

Greg Camarillo WR – Good hands. Slow. Will not be back.

Fred Evans DT – Has never become the penetrating defensive lineman the Vikings hoped he’d be when they took a flyer on him a couple of years ago. Makes boneheaded mistakes. Will probably be brought back to rotate with Remi Ayodele, though I’m sure the Vikings would love to find a real solution at nose tackle, possibly through the draft.

Letroy Guion DT – Another guy who never lived up to his promise. Leslie Frazier has spoken a lot about defensive line depth this offseason and Guion does give you versatility which adds to his value. He’s just not that good of a player. E.J. Henderson LB – Too many leg injuries over the years. He’s still a decent player but he’s old and creaky now and his coverage skills are eroding quickly. The Vikings will move on from him.

Erin Henderson LB – Came on during the season last year and by the end was a very solid outside linebacker. They will almost certainly bring him back but I don’t see him being moved inside to take his brother E.J.’s place. He’s the team’s best coverage linebacker at this point and he makes plays against the run. He’s worth signing long-term.

Tyrell Johnson S – No one has symbolized the Vikings’ ineptitude in the secondary more than Tyrell. Every year he gets talked up by scouts and every year he fails to develop into a good starter. The Jamarca Sanford/Tyrell Johnson rotation will be a thing of the past. Johnson is history.

Matt Katula LS – Was brought in to long-snap when Cullen Loeffler got hurt against Atlanta. Loeffler is coming back so Katula is gone. Katula did a terrible job anyway.

Scott Kooistra OT – His future is up in the air after suffering a severe neck injury last preseason. I really can’t see this guy ever suiting up for the Vikings. It would be an inspirational story if he even gets back into football.

Jarrad Page S – Was brought in late last season to plug a hole after Husain Abdullah went on IR. Didn’t embarrass himself but didn’t do anything spectacular either. Could come back and compete for a starting safety spot.

Sage Rosenfels QB – The Vikings love the way Sage works with their young QBs. He likely will be brought back once again as a mentor for Christian Ponder and Joe Webb. I suppose a better back-up job could materialize for him somewhere else but I wouldn’t count on it.

Benny Sapp CB – Benny’s saga was well-documented. Got cut by the Dolphins after his week-one torching at the hands of Wes Welker. Sat on his couch until the Vikings got desperate enough to call him. Came back to Minnesota and played not very well. He’s not going to be back.

Visanthe Shiancoe TE – The most vexing of all the Vikings’ free agent dilemmas. He can still play, but is he worth signing to a new contract now that Kyle Rudolph is ready to emerge as a weapon? The Pats have shown the value of having two good tight ends but do the Vikings throw the ball enough to take advantage of having both Rudolph and Shank? The Vikes might want to let Shank go and pursue more of a pure blocking TE to replace the retired Jim Kleinsasser. This one could go either way.

Possible Free Agent Targets

The Vikes will no doubt dip into the free agent pool this offseason. The question is how deeply they’ll dip in. Some think they should make a splash by signing a big name receiver, others say they should sign low-cost role players to fill spots until young players are ready to take over. Here are a few potential targets:

Vincent Jackson WR – The vast majority of the free agent speculation this offseason has been about Jackson. The Vikings did go after him pretty hard in 2010, but remember that in 2010 they still thought they had a shot to contend. Does it make sense for a rebuilding team to spend big money on an offensive weapon like Jackson? There’s a strong argument in favor of doing it. Christian Ponder is developing as a QB and, to help that growth process, needs better weapons. Jackson would be a quick fix at a position that has been a problem for a couple of years.

Robert Meachem WR – If the Vikes can’t land Jackson they might turn to Meachem, a speedy receiver who wouldn’t cost as much and might be ready to emerge as a true #1 outside of New Orleans where they spread the ball around so much. This whole situation is similar to what the Vikings faced going into
2008. They needed a #1 receiver but there weren’t any available in free agency. So they over-spent for Bernard Berrian, a decision that ended up biting them in the butt. I’m not saying Meachem would end up like Berrian, I’m just saying I’d be leery of trying to make a #1 out of a #2 or #3. Meachem makes sense but only at the right price. He’s no V-Jax.

Brandon Carr CB – The Vikings need a cornerback, bad. Carr seems like he’d be a good fit but there figures to be a bidding war for his services and that will inflate his price.

Tyvon Branch S – There will be several solid safeties hitting the market. Branch looks like the best fit for the Vikings with his run support and zone skills but the Raiders probably won’t let him go. We’ll see.

Albert Haynesworth DT – I’ve been told I’m silly for liking Haynesworth. Everyone knows the baggage that comes with him but that’s not as big an issue when it’s no longer tied to a big contract. It’s easy to cut a guy when you’re not paying him that much. I hold to my belief that the Vikings should take a flyer on this guy. He fits their system and he should still have a couple good years left in the tank. As part of the overall defensive line rotation he could have immense value. He could spell Kevin Williams and also play some nose in third down situations. Best of all, he’d come cheap.

Carl Nicks G – If the Vikings REALLY wanted to make a free agent splash they’d go after Nicks, probably the top guard in all the NFL. There’s no way this happens of course but…well, you never know. They will certainly want to move on from 2011’s starting guard tandem of Steve Hutchinson and Anthony Herrera. Right now we’re got Charlie Johnson at LG and a battle between Joe Berger and Brandon Fusco at RG. Is anyone excited by that?

Dan Connor LB – With E.J. Henderson moving on the Vikings will likely be in the market for a new MLB. Stephen Tulloch figures to be picked up by a wide-9 team like Philly plus he would be very expensive. Connor makes sense for multiple reasons. He’s a good player but not highly expensive. At this point he’d be an upgrade over a hobbled E.J.

Wrap Up

The draft will certainly be a huge part of the Vikings’ rebuild, but before that will come a fascinating free agency period. All indications are that the Vikes will make a push for Vincent Jackson. They will almost certainly make at least a couple of signings, if only to fill spots until young guys are ready. One way or another, the 2012 Vikings will look very different than the 2011 edition. And that’s good news because they were god-awful in 2011.

Preview provided by Dan Zinski. Check out The Viking Age for more on the Minnesota Vikings.