Crystal Ball Projections

[PurpleScout]

Sitting here on Sunday night after being bored all day with out football and reading football news on every sight imagineable. Here are my Crystal Ball Offseason And Draft Projections. If even half come through I will be happy.

QB-Trade for Mallett & sign Jason Campbell as backup, trade Ponder
RB-Draft a scat back in 5th round-James White, Wisconsin
TE-Release Carlson, resign Ford, Rudolph, Ford, Ellison
WR-Send Simpson Packing, sign Decker, See if Childs is healed
Off Line-Sign best Free Agent Guard available, draft a swing offensive lineman

DT-Sign Raji and pair with Floyd in a 4-3
DE-Sign Michael Johnson and Griffen
LBer-Redo Greenway's contract, Draft Mack first round or Borland in the 2nd
CB-Sign Vermer and draft a CB high in the draft
Safety-Sign TJ Ward

[saint33]

If even a couple of those signings happened I'd be surprised. No way we would or even could sign Ward, Verner, Johnson, Raji, Decker, the best guard and resign Griffen. Or even half of them. We might be able to do a couple of those things but I wouldn't bank on it.

[PurpleHalo]

Way too many overpriced free agents, you do not win that way in the NFL. You always have to overpay for free agents, which never helps the cap. Building through the draft is the best way to win in the NFL, maybe grabbing a key free agent here and there, or adding depth with tier 2 guys.

[KSViking]

Sitting here on Sunday night after being bored all day with out football and reading football news on every sight imagineable. Here are my Crystal Ball Offseason And Draft Projections. If even half come through I will be happy.

QB-Trade for Mallett & sign Jason Campbell as backup, trade Ponder
RB-Draft a scat back in 5th round-James White, Wisconsin
TE-Release Carlson, resign Ford, Rudolph, Ford, Ellison
WR-Send Simpson Packing, sign Decker, See if Childs is healed
Off Line-Sign best Free Agent Guard available, draft a swing offensive lineman

DT-Sign Raji and pair with Floyd in a 4-3
DE-Sign Michael Johnson and Griffen
LBer-Redo Greenway's contract, Draft Mack first round or Borland in the 2nd
CB-Sign Vermer and draft a CB high in the draft
Safety-Sign TJ Ward

I would like to give my hopes/prediction. Like yours, I doubt that many of these things happen. But maybe

QB: Resign Cassel, Draft Bortles or Bridgewater in 1st or in 3rd round Draft Grappolo
RB: Sign some Vetran on the cheap. Donald Brown, Willis McGahee, Starks.. there are plenty out there
WR: Going in with Jennings, Patterson, and Wright starting. Add a mid level FA and draft a guy low with potential.
OL: Draft Xavier SuaFila for vacant LG postion, Sign Jon Asamoa from the Chiefs to compete with Fusco for RG

DT: Draft a big boy to play NT position that has never been filled since Pat Williams left. Doesn't have to be a Sack King, someone to stop Run and Protect our LBs.
LB: Draft Mosley in 1st if we don't get a QB. Borland in the 3rd if we do. Sign Karlos Dansby??
CB: Draft Desir or Jean-Baptiste with late 3rd round pick, or 4th round pick. Draft Deion Belue in 5th or 6th
S: Draft Deone Buchanon if you can in 3rd round.

I know that if you count, there are way more get this guy in 3rd round than we have picks. But I don't figure they will all be there. Just see some of these prospects that are considered to be 3rd round players as possible solutions to our needs.

Edit. Sorry, got distracted on my WR assessment. ADHD here ----------> Oh Look! Shiny Object

[Purpnation]

Sitting here on Sunday night after being bored all day with out football and reading football news on every sight imagineable. Here are my Crystal Ball Offseason And Draft Projections. If even half come through I will be happy.

QB-Trade for Mallett & sign Jason Campbell as backup, trade Ponder
RB-Draft a scat back in 5th round-James White, Wisconsin
TE-Release Carlson, resign Ford, Rudolph, Ford, Ellison
WR-Send Simpson Packing, sign Decker, See if Childs is healed
Off Line-Sign best Free Agent Guard available, draft a swing offensive lineman

DT-Sign Raji and pair with Floyd in a 4-3
DE-Sign Michael Johnson and Griffen
LBer-Redo Greenway's contract, Draft Mack first round or Borland in the 2nd
CB-Sign Vermer and draft a CB high in the draft
Safety-Sign TJ Ward

All those big money signings would completely devastate our cap. It isn't as simple as signing any ole free agent who seems appealing.

And people PLEASE, stop suggesting we sign Raji, the dude SUCKS, not only does not fit our system AT ALL, he does not command the type of pay day he wants, there is a reason the Packers don't want to give him the contract he wants, and it is because he simply is not worth it. I will never understand our fascination with giving Packers players the money that the Packers themselves do not deem worthy of said money.

[Mercy Percy]

Sitting here on Sunday night after being bored all day with out football and reading football news on every sight imagineable. Here are my Crystal Ball Offseason And Draft Projections. If even half come through I will be happy.

QB-Trade for Mallett & sign Jason Campbell as backup, trade Ponder
RB-Draft a scat back in 5th round-James White, Wisconsin
TE-Release Carlson, resign Ford, Rudolph, Ford, Ellison
WR-Send Simpson Packing, sign Decker, See if Childs is healed
Off Line-Sign best Free Agent Guard available, draft a swing offensive lineman

DT-Sign Raji and pair with Floyd in a 4-3
DE-Sign Michael Johnson and Griffen
LBer-Redo Greenway's contract, Draft Mack first round or Borland in the 2nd
CB-Sign Vermer and draft a CB high in the draft
Safety-Sign TJ Ward

No need for Decker, If we get Verner we dont need to draft a CB high in the draft, No way do we sign that many big name players I could see one or two at most, It would be nice if Greenway got restructured but I dont know if I see it happening. Mallet isnt a sure thing and I dont know why we wouldnt select a QB in the draft this year

[Slick Rick]

It's a process of elimination for me. I think there are several positions where the Vikings either don't have enough options, or don't have needs.

QB: What good options are there, and how do you acquire them? I don't see the Vikings parting ways with valuable draft picks when they could just address the position through the draft, but that's just me being silly perhaps.

RB:

WR: Almost as funny as RB, but not quite. We don't have that blue chip, but we have 3 guys who are very, very good wideouts in Wright, Patterson and Jennings. We also have two who are sort of ???, but who have tremendous athletic talents in Rodney Smith, and a guy who I think could potentially be our #1 if he can stay healthy, Greg Childs. Of course, Childs has never been able to stay healthy, and very few have ever recovered from the injuries he's had, which had troubled him throughout his college playing career as well. He's tough, he's a physical freak, and he's a very good WR. If not for his injury history, I think he would have been a top 10 pick.

TE: I'm not sure if this is as funny or funnier than RB, but it's pretty close. We're set here. Our #3 is still a very solid TE, and I expect no moves on this front.

OL: This one is where I could see some moves being made for depth. However, I expect the Vikings to pursue a guard in the draft if they don't think Baca is the guy. I could be wrong though. If they get a starter at any offensive position, I'd say it's definitely guard.

DL: I think there's a strong change the Vikings target B.J. Raji for about a 3 year deal. McCullers is a project (I recently projected him as the Vikings' 3rd round pick), and Raji would be security at a position that we desperately need. I suspect we will transition into a 3-4 scheme, or a hybrid scheme, so I think he'd feel right at home. Perhaps there's a guy who they could sign to a 1 year deal, though, and I think that might be ideal for the Vikings, who probably would want to get McCullers out there ASAP, and wouldn't want to be committed to any free agents for too long.

LB: I think re-sign Griffen, and him and Robison will be our OLBs, for reasons stated before, and LB is actually a position of depth, even if the Vikes don't have any truly outstanding LBs. I don't expect any action on this front, unless they replace current players with new ones who better fit their scheme.

S: I could see the Vikings making a huge pitch to Jairus Byrd, but Spielman is a moneyball kind of guy, and I suspect the Browns will overpay, or the Bills will simply tag him to keep him as they've recently said. Other than that, I suspect they go with Sanford/Sendejo for another year, and that wouldn't be a terrible thing if you ask me.

CB: I think they re-sign Chris Cook to a 1-year deal and call it a day.

[Dirtyswabby]

Redskins, Eagles, Browns, and a assortment of other teams including the vikings have all tried to build through FA it simply doesn't work. I don't want the vikings to keep picking up packers cast off. Raji is simply not elite.

A lot of teams will generally only sign one big name in FA, if we signed all of those players might as well rename us the Redskins.

My guess is that we will take a stab at Griffen, and Verner. If Griffen doesn't pan out I wouldn't be surprised to see Michael Johnson in Purple next year. thats about all the big names I think we will see this off season.

[Slick Rick]

Redskins, Eagles, Browns, and a assortment of other teams including the vikings have all tried to build through FA it simply doesn't work. I don't want the vikings to keep picking up packers cast off. Raji is simply not elite.

A lot of teams will generally only sign one big name in FA, if we signed all of those players might as well rename us the Redskins.

My guess is that we will take a stab at Griffen, and Verner. If Griffen doesn't pan out I wouldn't be surprised to see Michael Johnson in Purple next year. thats about all the big names I think we will see this off season.

You don't need "elite", you need someone who's going to get his job done at the right price. I happen to think Raji is a pretty solid NT, and I don't really think he would cost too much.

I could see Verner, but it depends on how much he's going to cost. He was an elite CB last year, and if he's looking to get paid like one, I'm not so sure the Vikings would or should be interested.

[Dirtyswabby]

You don't need "elite", you need someone who's going to get his job done at the right price. I happen to think Raji is a pretty solid NT, and I don't really think he would cost too much.

I could see Verner, but it depends on how much he's going to cost. He was an elite CB last year, and if he's looking to get paid like one, I'm not so sure the Vikings would or should be interested.

Raji is going to want big money period. I would prefer we get a NT in the draft before picking up Raji. What makes you think Raji can get the job done? There has been speculation that the packers have offered 8m a year and he has been sitting on the contract offer for months? Do you think we should pay raji more than 8m a year?

[PurpleKoolaid]

Nix is going to be better the Raji. Even in a 4-3.

[Purpnation]

Nix is going to be better the Raji. Even in a 4-3.

Exactly, Raji wants more money then his team views him worth, so why are we supposed to scoop him up and give him the money the team that drafted him doesn't think he is worth? Besides, he is a hold the point 3-4 NT.

[KSViking]

It's a process of elimination for me. I think there are several positions where the Vikings either don't have enough options, or don't have needs.

QB: What good options are there, and how do you acquire them? I don't see the Vikings parting ways with valuable draft picks when they could just address the position through the draft, but that's just me being silly perhaps.

RB:

WR: Almost as funny as RB, but not quite. We don't have that blue chip, but we have 3 guys who are very, very good wideouts in Wright, Patterson and Jennings. We also have two who are sort of ???, but who have tremendous athletic talents in Rodney Smith, and a guy who I think could potentially be our #1 if he can stay healthy, Greg Childs. Of course, Childs has never been able to stay healthy, and very few have ever recovered from the injuries he's had, which had troubled him throughout his college playing career as well. He's tough, he's a physical freak, and he's a very good WR. If not for his injury history, I think he would have been a top 10 pick.

TE: I'm not sure if this is as funny or funnier than RB, but it's pretty close. We're set here. Our #3 is still a very solid TE, and I expect no moves on this front.

OL: This one is where I could see some moves being made for depth. However, I expect the Vikings to pursue a guard in the draft if they don't think Baca is the guy. I could be wrong though. If they get a starter at any offensive position, I'd say it's definitely guard.

DL: I think there's a strong change the Vikings target B.J. Raji for about a 3 year deal. McCullers is a project (I recently projected him as the Vikings' 3rd round pick), and Raji would be security at a position that we desperately need. I suspect we will transition into a 3-4 scheme, or a hybrid scheme, so I think he'd feel right at home. Perhaps there's a guy who they could sign to a 1 year deal, though, and I think that might be ideal for the Vikings, who probably would want to get McCullers out there ASAP, and wouldn't want to be committed to any free agents for too long.

LB: I think re-sign Griffen, and him and Robison will be our OLBs, for reasons stated before, and LB is actually a position of depth, even if the Vikes don't have any truly outstanding LBs. I don't expect any action on this front, unless they replace current players with new ones who better fit their scheme.

S: I could see the Vikings making a huge pitch to Jairus Byrd, but Spielman is a moneyball kind of guy, and I suspect the Browns will overpay, or the Bills will simply tag him to keep him as they've recently said. Other than that, I suspect they go with Sanford/Sendejo for another year, and that wouldn't be a terrible thing if you ask me.

CB: I think they re-sign Chris Cook to a 1-year deal and call it a day.

I read this, and outside of resigning our own free agents, and drafting someone at DT and Raji, you have the Vikings doing nothing. They have 4 picks in the first 3 rounds of the draft, you suspect they will not address any positions outside of the DT you project to go in the 3rd round? I mean, its all hypothetical, and every mock draft, or Crystal Ball projection is worth about the same, so why not elaborate more on what we should/ or you think we will do with our picks, to upgrade ____ position.

[headless_norseman]

My guess is that we will take a stab at Griffen, and Verner. If Griffen doesn't pan out I wouldn't be surprised to see Michael Johnson in Purple next year. thats about all the big names I think we will see this off season.

Caught a couple of lines in an article about 10 days ago about Johnson. I think if Zimmer can get him to come over from Cincy and resign Cassel, those 2 signings would be huge for our draft leverage.

[dead_poet]

Michael Johnson - DL - Bengals

The Cincinnati Enquirer's "gut" feeling is that free agent DE Michael Johnson lands in Minnesota.

He'd be reuniting with ex-Bengals DC Mike Zimmer, who's now the Vikings' head coach. Defensive end is a big need in Minnesota with Jared Allen set to walk in free agency. In an ideal world, the Vikes would add Johnson, re-sign Everson Griffen, and place them in a three-man rotation along with LE Brian Robison.
Source: Cincinnati Enquirer