Winfield released

[dead_poet]

Draft day trades do happen....the jaguars could pass and then the vikings could make a trade with....lets say the eagles at 4. The eagles are in more of a rebuild then the vikings and I could see it happening....Not likely, but not impossible. One can only dream..

It would be ridiculous for the Vikings to trade into the top-5 for a corner that's not hyped as the next Deion Sanders. There's no way Spielman will sacrifice valuable picks for a move like this, in our scheme, especially when the talent level of the top corner doesn't dramatically dwarf that of the next 4-5 guys. Unless they are All-World, corners rarely go that high.

[dead_poet]

Kind of hoping Winfield would've had a similar send-off as Driver (even though he was a Viking for a shorter period). I know I would've driven up for that ceremony. This one still stings and I'm a bit jaded by how it allegedly went down.

---
Wiederer: Winfield surprised to learn of his release
The cornerback was let go and didn’t seem to expect he would be brought back at a cheaper price.

Winfield, the source said, initially felt confused and blindsided, never led to believe this might be a possibility, without negotiation, in the 11th hour before free agency. The 87-hour window that agents for free agents had for negotiating had passed. Winfield was suddenly out of a job and also playing from way behind in finding a new team.

After nine years in the organization, the cornerback believed he deserved better, that he was owed more. On top of that, the source said, contrary to other published reports, the Vikings never had formally proposed a possible restructuring of Winfield’s contract as a means of keeping him.

And while that wasn’t a pitch the cornerback’s camp had been willing to entertain, the proposal should have been made if the Vikings seriously were entertaining having Winfield back.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikin ... ml?refer=y

[VikingPaul73]

Kind of hoping Winfield would've had a similar send-off as Driver (even though he was a Viking for a shorter period). I know I would've driven up for that ceremony. This one still stings and I'm a bit jaded by how it allegedly went down.

---
Wiederer: Winfield surprised to learn of his release
The cornerback was let go and didn’t seem to expect he would be brought back at a cheaper price. http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikin ... ml?refer=y

So a bad decision was also handled poorly. These types of things have a way of turning the entire locker room against the organization.

Again, I could understand the move if Winfield's contract was preventing Spielman from locking up a player like Loadholt who was drafted and developed. But that's not the case!! As far as I can tell, they just saved the Wilf's a little money, left a gaping hole at CB (now they have to draft a guy, maybe reach, and force him into the lineup rather than develop him for a year or so), got rid of a great locker room guy and a fan favorite. And did it to a guy 9 years on the team in a very unprofessional manner.

Way to go, Rick.

[Purple bruise]

So a bad decision was also handled poorly. These types of things have a way of turning the entire locker room against the organization.

Again, I could understand the move if Winfield's contract was preventing Spielman from locking up a player like Loadholt who was drafted and developed. But that's not the case!! As far as I can tell, they just saved the Wilf's a little money, left a gaping hole at CB (now they have to draft a guy, maybe reach, and force him into the lineup rather than develop him for a year or so), got rid of a great locker room guy and a fan favorite. And did it to a guy 9 years on the team in a very unprofessional manner.

Way to go, Rick.

Wow, yet another unnamed "source" says blah blah. He was blindsided, really. He nor his agent did not realize that with his current contract that the organization would not be paying him 7 million dollars and not be starting him at corner back.
Or you might look at it this way, they got 7 million in cap space and released an aging corner who's starting days were/are over that did not want to adjust his salary so that he could remain on the team. That cap space can/will be used in any number of ways in signing new players or resigning players in the near future. This is a business and I have not seen any indications that the Wilfs are trying to cut corners (no pun intended but that is funny) to save money. It seems like this was a no brainer decision and if Winfield wanted to remain on the team he would have restructured his contract in my opinion.

[dead_poet]

Yeah, I love Winfield but this story sounds like rubbish. Just a writer looking for an angle.

Pelissero eludes to Loadholt vs. Winfield, though I don't think it was a "this or that" type of situation: http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/Peli ... ings031213

There was no negotiation of a potential paycut, nor had there been any talks since a vague meeting weeks earlier at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis

[dead_poet]

Read somewhere #Vikings didn't approach Winfield about a pay cut. Yes, they did. But there also was no dialogue for weeks after the combine.

Tom Pelissero on Twitter

[Just Me]

From the article:

Even his play last season was youthful: 110 tackles, 11 for loss, three interceptions, a fumble recovery and 13 passes defended.

I think they had to make this move if they needed the cap space. If they end up $8M under cap after its all over and done, and they don't have a CB of Winfield's caliber in the secondary, then Spielman's stock will plummet with me. That's alot of "if's" and there is alot of time yet to see what the squad is going to look like, but I am disappointed with this one. (It's probably going to end up being the right move, but it stinks anyway.

[Eli]

Yeah, I love Winfield but this story sounds like rubbish. Just a writer looking for an angle.

I don't get it. What part of this story do you take exception with?

Sounds like the Vikings discussed a restructuring of his contract at one point in the recent past, but were rebuffed by Winfield and his agent. Probably to the degree that they didn't want to bring up again or present it as an ultimatum (which really does p*** players off).

My guess is that they may have initially been leaning toward keeping Winfield on, even with his $7.25M cap hit, but once the fur started flying and they had to make some deals, decided against it. Maybe not directly a result of Loadholt's contract, but it almost certainly played a part in the decision. How about Felton's contract? Do you think they thought they'd pay $2.5M/year for a fullback who never touches the ball?

[Eli]

You're taking Pelissero's comment that Winfield won't be back because of how he was let go as some kind of statement that Winfield thought he was treated unfairly? Meh. I think he's absolutely right - Winfield will not be back. Not because Winfield thought his treatment was unfair, just that it wasn't handled with much class.

[petev_sj]

I just take exception to the tone of the piece, the Winfield was "confused" and "blindsided" etc, that the organization was unfair to him, etc.

Look, maybe that's how he felt, but it seems like a writer taking liberties with what were probably pretty generic answers to whatever he was asked.

example:

reporter "How did you feel when you heard the news that you were cut"

AW "I was surprised, and disappointed, I was really looking forward to having another year in purple. I knew it was a possibility when we talked restructuring earlier but hadn't heard anything about it for a while. I wish they would have given me a little more notice."

A reporter looking for an angle can take that response and run in 10 different directions, but the juiciest one is that Winfield is shocked, hurt and angry. I just don't put a ton of stock in the story.

Agreed. I love Winfield but to say you were blindsided is blatantly false. He knows he wasn't going to get the $7.25 million this year. And no one in the NFL is going to give a 36 year old that kind of money in FA. If he truly wants to stay a Viking, he can take less money, or he can take less money and go somewhere else.

Great player, arguably the best tackling CB in NFL history, but if you are going to work half time, than expect to be paid for half time.

[mossbutt]

.........and Ponder is still on the roster? Brilliant Spielman brilliant.
There goes my favorite Viking of all time. The NFL is a business but this still reeks of a high and putrid stinkiness. Good luck Antoine.

[Mothman]

Kind of hoping Winfield would've had a similar send-off as Driver (even though he was a Viking for a shorter period). I know I would've driven up for that ceremony. This one still stings and I'm a bit jaded by how it allegedly went down.

I'd love to know who Wiederer's source was for this story but if the story is accurate and Winfield was blindsided and coldly released than shame on Spielman. That's no way to treat a player like Winfield and the Wilfs and the Vikings as an organization should have learned from the awkward, unceremonious way Mike Tice was fired that there is a right and a wrong way to go about these things.

Hopefully, Wiederer's "NFL Source" (that expression is sure getting tiresome) is wrong about the way things went down. I wonder if the source was Winfield's agent. Perhaps Winfield himself?

Winfield is certainly a VIkings player I'm going to miss. i loved everything about the way he played and the way he handled himself. The guy is a class act and a terrific football player.

[Eli]

The guy was in the building working out when the team decided to release him. How is it even remotely possible that he suspected that might happen? Just doesn't seem plausible.

[PurpleKoolaid]

Winfield wasnt given any respect. Spielman is a piece f sh#t, just like Childress was. You dont treat vets like that.

[Cliff]

It doesn't make sense that casual fans on a message board could be aware of the possibility that he would be released but he wasn't. Why would the team offer a proposal that they have been told will be rejected?