Winfield released

[mondry]

Aww this sucks, Winfield was such a fun guy to watch and outstanding person from what I could tell. If this is the end for him then I wish him the best of luck!

[Demi]

Great move! No reason to spend that kind of money on that kind of player. Get the young guys some snaps and let's keep this rebuild going!

[J. Kapp 11]

It's sad because Winfield was one of my favorite Vikings. And my 26 jersey is the only one I have.

But I get it. The Vikings need to makes some moves, and this makes it a lot easier financially. If I've learned anything in 40 years of watching the NFL is that it's a business. It sucks sometimes, but it's always going to be that way.

I guess I'll have to get a new jersey this year. Time to shell out for the custom Kapp throwback.

[Mothman]

It's sad because Winfield was one of my favorite Vikings. And my 26 jersey is the only one I have.

But I get it. The Vikings need to makes some moves, and this makes it a lot easier financially. If I've learned anything in 40 years of watching the NFL is that it's a business. It sucks sometimes, but it's always going to be that way.

I guess I'll have to get a new jersey this year. Time to shell out for the custom Kapp throwback.

It'll never go out of style!

[DanAS]

Winfield was definitely my favorite defensive player on this team. He was such a team leader, such an inspirational figure due to those huge hits that came from that little body. This now means that I don't own any jersey for a member of the current squad -- and I have a bunch of Vikings jerseys.

At 36, even the ageless Winfield didn't have too many more standout seasons ahead of him. I do recognize that. Then again, as we keep ridding the squad of our more talented players and replacing them with nothing but question marks -- perhaps there aren't too many guys on this current roster who have standout seasons ahead of them. Maybe the Vikes should ask Allen to restructure or else! And while they're at it, Kevin Williams too -- he is past his prime, so we should get rid of him if he's unwilling to accept a GS 15 Step 10.

You can buy a whole lot of free agents of the caliber of Simpson and Carlson for the money that will be freed up.

[Eli]

Maybe the Vikes should ask Allen to restructure or else! And while they're at it, Kevin Williams too -- he is past his prime, so we should get rid of him if he's unwilling to accept a GS 15 Step 10.

Both of these moves have been suggested in the press and in these forums.

[DanAS]

I understand the argument that he would only give us 1-2 more good years and Spielman is building for the long term. But unless he was taking cap space from a younger guy that they wanted to keep, it makes no sense to me....

Yes, if this was a cap move to lock up Loadholt (which I am glad they did) then I would understand. But they didn't NEED the cap space! What was the difficult choice they were making here??

He was still good, they don't need the extra cap space, and he would be a great mentor to the younger guys, and help transition to a new corner.

Just because you're "rebuilding" doesn't mean you don't try to put the most competitive team on the field every week....so long as competing doesn't put you in cap hell and hurt your ability to rebuild long term. I don't see the huge advantage to this move. Maybe there is a big splash about to be made on a younger player, but at this point, I hate this move.

There are a lot of people who need the money more than Winfield. Maybe Ziggy can save the money and give it to the American Jewish World Service -- I always give them a lot of money, why not put the money there?

Seriously, my problem with this isn't so much that we're getting rid of a player that I love, but that I fear we're going to replace him with mediocrities, or just eat cap space. I'm going to wait until the end of free agency before firming up any view of this, but I haven't noticed any free agency signings yet, and I don't have much tolerance for cutting Winfield only to sign this year's version of Simpson and Carlson. How many great free agents have we added in the past few years?

[thatguy]

Love the guy but he was overpaid for being a nickel corner. Maybe he restructures and comes back? If not, he'll be missed, one of the best technical tacklers out there (not a guy looking to hurt someone) and a hell of a competitor.

I'd agree with you if he hadn't played over 90% of the snaps last year. Dude is an absolute monster in the run game, and I understand trying to make the team younger...but you can't just dump all the veterans to save some money.

[thatguy]

Overreaction Tuesday. He was my favorite too, but last year was probably the best year he had left and with what they were going to pay him this upcoming year then it's probably the best they release him. He may do well elsewhere, but his career is almost done.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone say that "this year" or "that year was the last year he was going to be good," I'd be able to pay for Winfield's last season myself. People absolutely underrate just how good Antoine is. Pound for pound, the best tackling corner in the league. Such an incredible guy to have in any cover-2 scheme.

[Purple bruise]

Winfield was definitely my favorite defensive player on this team. He was such a team leader, such an inspirational figure due to those huge hits that came from that little body. This now means that I don't own any jersey for a member of the current squad -- and I have a bunch of Vikings jerseys.

At 36, even the ageless Winfield didn't have too many more standout seasons ahead of him. I do recognize that. Then again, as we keep ridding the squad of our more talented players and replacing them with nothing but question marks -- perhaps there aren't too many guys on this current roster who have standout seasons ahead of them. Maybe the Vikes should ask Allen to restructure or else! And while they're at it, Kevin Williams too -- he is past his prime, so we should get rid of him if he's unwilling to accept a GS 15 Step 10.

You can buy a whole lot of free agents of the caliber of Simpson and Carlson for the money that will be freed up.

I am trying to follow your logic. You explain that Winfield does not have many standout seasons left (are you aware that had he stayed he would have had a much diminished role making over 7 million dollars?) And then you talk about them getting rid of more talented players and replacing them with question marks. You have to be referring to Harvin and we all know how/why that came about. The Vikings received a first round, 3rd round and seventh round picks and will not have to deal with the drama or a 12 million dollar a year tab. I am not sure who else you are referring to. You can buy a whole lot of free agents for a fraction of what was spent. Maybe a guy like Felton who turned out to be a Pro Bowler?
That freed up cap money which was used to resign him, Loadholt, and possibly some other potential players, maybe a Cruz, Jennings etc.
You usualy can't have your cake and eat it too. I think Spielman is doing a fantastic job. Before too many fans jump off of the cliff they maybe should wait to see how this all plays out after the draft.

[DanAS]

I am trying to follow your logic. You explain that Winfield does not have many standout seasons left (are you aware that had he stayed he would have had a much diminished role making over 7 million dollars?) And then you talk about them getting rid of more talented players and replacing them with question marks. You have to be referring to Harvin and we all know how/why that came about. The Vikings received a first round, 3rd round and seventh round picks and will not have to deal with the drama or a 12 million dollar a year tab. I am not sure who else you are referring to. You can buy a whole lot of free agents for a fraction of what was spent. Maybe a guy like Felton who turned out to be a Pro Bowler?
That freed up cap money which was used to resign him, Loadholt, and possibly some other potential players, maybe a Cruz, Jennings etc.
You usualy can't have your cake and eat it too. I think Spielman is doing a fantastic job. Before too many fans jump off of the cliff they maybe should wait to see how this all plays out after the draft.

I explained the logic in another post. I'm concerned that we'll release Winfield and not sign anyone really good instead, because in recent years, free agency has been a bust for us. Winfield is a leader who adds value to the team, even as his career declines. Besides, he still can play pretty well -- if not quite at the level he once played at. If we sign multiple stud free agents, I'm willing to live with cutting an aging player who I love. But my fear is that we won't get the quality guys and will just sign mediocrities and have empty cap space. That's the concern.

I am glad we re-signed Loadholt, as I would think we all are.

[Purple bruise]

I explained the logic in another post. I'm concerned that we'll release Winfield and not sign anyone really good instead, because in recent years, free agency has been a bust for us. Winfield is a leader who adds value to the team, even as his career declines. Besides, he still can play pretty well -- if not quite at the level he once played at. If we sign multiple stud free agents, I'm willing to live with cutting an aging player who I love. But my fear is that we won't get the quality guys and will just sign mediocrities and have empty cap space. That's the concern.

I am glad we re-signed Loadholt, as I would think we all are.

Ok that clears things up. I also loved Winfield in his prime but although hes is/was a sure tackler his cover skills, which were never that good had diminished even further relagating him to becoming a nickle or slot coverage back. I think that the team realizes his value but since he would not reportedly budge from restructuring his 7 million dollar contract and them having Josh Robinson waiting in the wings, they pulled the trigger. I do not think that Robinson will disapoint any one with his agressive style and blazing speed.

[losperros]

Man, I'm frankly shocked. Winfield is one of my all-time favorite Vikings.

WHAT'S GOING ON WITH OUR TEAM!??!!?

Somebody needs to sit on me.

...In Rick We Trust?

As a Vikings fan, this has not been a good week for me.

[dead_poet]

As a Vikings fan, this has not been a good week for me.

You should be used to that by now. Of course, we can never give up hope, such is the curse of a Vikings fan.

[Demi]

What's going on? We're finally rebuilding this damn thing right so we quit the roller coaster ride we've been on for the last...fifty years! We need to get a good solid young team we can keep together for a decade. Not a good solid team with a 30 year old on the decline this, and a 33 year old on the down side that!

Skol Vikings! Might finally be doing the job right.