"First refusal" is what the lowest tender is called. It means you can match any offers they get but if you decide not to match you don't get any compensation.

So far they gave Tahi a first refusal tender, TJack a 3rd round, Evans a 2nd round and Edwards a first round. Giving Edwards only a 1st round tender makes it likely that someone else will offer him a contract meaning they will either trade him for a 1st round pick or have to match and pay more.

And yes given the possibility of a poison pill contract they could be forced to trade him for a low first round pick which would just be awful.

what is a poison pill contract

Like what the Vikings did w/ Hutchinson.

Favre on Jay Leno tonight. I don't expect him to announce his intentions for the season but it will be fun to watch the aftermath. A local affiliate even sent one of their anchors out to Burbank to cover the " event " . Let the Favre watching commence.

Based on things I've heard from people I know who talk to people at Winter Park, I'm ~90% sure Favre will be back. I would like to know 100% sooner rather than later though. I'm not expecting an announcement tonight either, but it would be nice.

lol if he makes you guys sweat till training camp again, just so he can skip all the offseason **** as usual

There seems to be a consensus within the franchise that he could say he was coming back now and still skip whatever off-season activities he wanted to.

...ya...but...where would the drama in that be?

yeah cause Favre was the only guy who did that last season!!!

In a hypothetical world were you can only start one RB CT becomes really valuable. He is durable can pass, run, block, etc. In reality you can relatively easily replicate his production with a couple of RBs, he becomes a lot less valuable and a specialist who is elite at one thing becomes more valuable.

If someone Poison Pills Ray Edwards I will be awful sad.

I won't be surprised if the Seahawks try

i really wouldn't mind it. Ray is overvalued cuz he had a huge postseason. He's not that good. He's been a pain in the ass (suspension, always talking ****, critizing team, saying he wants to play somewhere else, calling out the commisioner). He is clearly unhappy, tilted that he got screwed and can't hit open free agency.

If he had another big yr next yr then fine but as far as i can tell he is a contract yr boom player. I would gladly accept a late first rounder and start robison in his spot. We'd be getting a late 1st rounder which gives us a LOT more possibilities in the draft as far as trading up for the right player or trading back to scoop up picks. We'd be saving money because Ray would be getting a bigger deal than the 1st rounder or w/e.

It's easy to say the Vikes have no holes are 1 game away etc but now Griffin is gonna be coming off an ACL, Winfield is only getting older Madeui had a dissapoing year and Tyrell is desperate to get benched. We could use at least 1 CB and arguably a FS and SS. We need a DT unless Kennedy / Evans is going to be Pat's future replacement which I would be fine with.

Offensively we obviously need a QB, C, RG.

In case Favre doesn't come back, McNabb can be had for a late 1st rounder. McNabb + Robison >>>> TJack + Edwards

edwards just turned 25 years old. he's a physical freak who is already a high quality player and who has the potential to be an outstanding player.

robison is a good pass-rush specialist with limited upside.

if the vikings had the #5 pick in the draft and edwards was available, i'd draft him.

CT and peppers to the bears.

yawn, they still suck and idk why they aren't trying to fix that horse**** OL

You couldn't be more wrong about any of this. His postseason was only a surprise to those not paying attention. He is really really good, 25 and despite the way he's been portrayed in the media recently, seems pretty smart too.

I assure you that i could be more wrong. i was willing to bet on CT getting a starting job (lol), and now im willing to bet on this.

What would you set your line at for Ray's amt of sacks next season if he leaves?

Also lol @ somebody drafting Ray w/ the #5 overall pick, if he was worth that don't you think the Vikings would of given him the max tender???

edit fwiw I'm willing to bet on literally any viking related prop or oppinion of mine anybody disagrees w/ (related to the vikes).

sucks that peppers signed w/ them, maybe it will finally get the vikings to do something about McKinnie.

The bright side of losing CT is we can now sign a FA. I'm thinking we can stick Albert Young in CT's old spot and improve the team in one of several other spots including LT, S, CB, C or RG.

Nobody's saying much about McKinnie's plantar fasciitis (PF), but I think that could spell the end of his career. I had/have PF. It was really bad for about 6 months and still hasnt gone away completely after almost two years. It never seems to go all the way away, no matter what you do to treat it. One of the worst things that magnifies its effects is being heavy. I lost 40 lbs and that helped a lot, but there's no way I could exert the kind of force required by an offensive lineman with this foot. Somehow, I dont think McKinnie is capable of losing enough weight or putting in the effort to rehab, while still being heavy enough to be an effective player, for the PF to become a non-issue. Even if he does come back & play, I think he will be less effective than before. I think we have a large hole at LT right now.

Do you guys remember the old Timberwolf - Michael Williams? He had PF in one foot and kept trying to come back & play for several years before he finally retired.

i'd set the line at around 8.25 if he stays. no idea if he leaves. and if i was guaranteed he would start 16 games i'd set it at like 11. (note that i don't claim to be an expert on either ray edwards or line-setting. just my best guess)

but he's not just a pass rusher - he's good against the run too.
no, obviously i don't. i imagine they didn't because of off-field issues like salary stuff and/or ray's relationships with certain people.

the last 5 #5 picks were:
mark sanchez, glenn dorsey, levi brown, a.j. hawk and cadillac williams. some decent players there, but you don't think that ray edwards compares well to that group? how many would you rather have?

last 5 #5 picks has nothing to do w/ how this yr's #5 overall pick is worth. Jared Allen went for #17 and 2 3rds. He was the same age and was coming off 3 much better years on a ****ty team not playing next to 3 pro bowlers. #17 + 2 3rds is worth less than #5. Last year Heyward Bey went 7th or w/e guess what this yr's 7th is not affected by that whatsoever.

my bears buddy thinks that martz is going to give CT more snaps than forte. would lol if this happens. bears really know how to **** up when it comes to rb

Not huge news but I guess the Vikings just re-signed Benny Sapp. I'd consider this good news, however relatively unimportant.

Vikings have also supposedly talked to LdT. I think the rumors of his demise have been somewhat exaggerated and think having AdP and LdT listed on the depth chart at HB would be awesome/hilarious. And not because you can abbreviate their names similarly.

From Judd in the strib:


"We reported in today's Star Tribune that the Vikings were interested in LaDainian Tomlinson. That interest apparently is going to result in a visit to Winter Park for the veteran running back.

Sports Illustrated reported on its website that Tomlinson will visit the Vikings on Thursday. The publiction cited an NFL source. The Star Tribune has learned that the Vikings are still in the process of working on getting Tomlinson into town but the visit is expected to happen.

Tomlinson was let go by the Chargers last month and this will be his first visit since his release. Tomlinson was believed to be looking for a starting opportunity with a quality team but that wasn't going to be there. With the Vikings, he would be expected to help fill the third-down role that had been played by Chester Taylor. Taylor signed as a free agent with the Chicago Bears last week.

Tomlinson, who spent nine seasons with the Chargers and was the NFL's MVP in 2006, would play behind Adrian Peterson. One source speculated that Tomlinson could receive a two-year deal from the Vikings that would include about $1.5 million guaranteed and be worth $3 million per season."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vi...7PQLanchO7DiUr

I think we have other, larger areas of need, but having LT on the Vikes could be a lot of fun.

Yeah LT would be ****ing sweet.

Another name who is available that I hadn't noticed before is Kevin Faulk. Definitely fits the 3rd down back mold, and he hasn't accepted the Pats contract offer for next year.