Archive for April, 2010

For about the last week, stories have been making the rounds suggesting the Vikings could be interested in former Eagles and Jets cornerback Lito Sheppard. In just the last few minutes the story got a whole lot more concrete. According to PFT, Lito is visiting the Vikings today. The interest in Sheppard signals just how concerned the Vikes are about their cornerback situation, which went from solid to iffy last season with injuries to Antoine Winfield and Cedric Griffin. But whether Sheppard represents a viable solution to these issues is an open question. He was a good player in Philadelphia, [...]

The long-awaited schedule release has gone down. Here it is sports fans: Sept 9 at New Orleans Thursday Night Sept. 19 vs. Miami Noon Sept. 26 vs. Lions Noon Bye Oct. 11 at New York Jets Monday Night Oct. 17 vs. Cowboys Noon Oct. 25 at Green Bay Sunday Night Oct. 31 at New England 3 PM Nov. 7 vs. Arizona Noon Nov. 14 at Chicago Noon Nov. 21 vs. Green Bay Noon Nov. 28 at Washington Noon Dec. 5 vs. Buffalo Noon Dec. 12 vs. New York Giants Noon Dec. 20 vs. Chicago Monday Night Dec. 26 at Philadelphia [...]

The full NFL schedule for 2010 won’t be released until tonight at 7 ET via NFL Network and NFL.com, but already we know which two teams will be featured in the league’s now-traditional Thursday night opener. As expected, that match-up will pit the Vikings against the Saints in a rematch of the NFC Championship Game. The general feeling is that the decision to feature the Vikes on opening night is a clear indication of the league’s confidence in Brett Favre returning for one more go. Wouldn’t it be funny, then, if Brett decided to throw everyone a curveball and not [...]

Generally speaking, if one is a pro athlete, one would like to avoid ever winding up gracing the virtual pages of TMZ, the gossip site renowned for chronicling the travails of fallen heroes like Ben Roethlisberger and Tiger Woods. Imagine our nervousness then when we discovered that our favorite animal-slaughtering mullet-man Jared Allen had gotten involved in a tavern altercation serious enough to warrant mention on that very website. Add to that our recollections of Jared’s previous alcohol issues, which earned him a four-game suspension as a member of the Chiefs, and you can see why we cringed. Then we [...]

In round 1 of today’s CBSSports.com/FanSided live mock draft, I had the Vikings taking CB Devin McCourty. But according to Peter King of SI, there’s good reason to believe the Vikes are looking at a completely different position with their 30th overall pick. King, responding to a question by a Twitter follower, tweeted the following: RT @BrandonBohning: @SI_PeterKing is there any legitimacy to the stories of the Vikings taking a QB in round one? … Yes. King has yet to indicate which QB he thinks the Vikes might be targeting with their first round pick, but if the mocks are [...]

The bloggers of the FanSided.com Sports Network are teaming up with CBSSports.com to present a live mock draft, starting this afternoon at 1 ET. The draft covers the first and second rounds, and will run throughout the day. This is an awesome thing for all the members of the FanSided crew…a great chance for us to show off our football smarts, or lack thereof, depending on who you ask. Anyway, make sure you check in starting at 1 ET to see who we pick. There may be a few surprises along the way. And I’m sure there will be plenty [...]

The draft is less than a week away, and it’s still almost impossible to get a read on who the Vikings might want to take when they select 30th overall. Most of the buzz has been about quarterbacks Jimmy Clausen and Tim Tebow. However, for the Vikes to get either of those guys would be more than a little shocking. Clausen is expected to be off the board long before the Vikings pick, and even if he does somehow manage to drop to their spot, a lot of people think his attitude would chase the Vikings away. And then there’s [...]

Jon Gruden has looked at Tim Tebow‘s mechanics, worked with him in the film room and spent time basking in the glow of his faultless character…and concluded that he is worthy of being taken in the first round of the NFL draft. “Somebody with a down-the-road philosophy or vision for him will take him, and take him earlier than some people expect,” predicted the noted quarterback guru. Gruden reserved special praise for Tebow’s attitude, saying, “Tim’s transition to more of a conventional NFL style has drawn a lot of questions from people, whether he can make the modifications in his [...]

Today the Vikings came to terms with three of their restricted free agents: o-lineman Ryan Cook, defensive tackle Fred Evans and safety Eric Frampton. Cook in particular became important when the Vikings lost depth along the offensive line with the departure of Artis Hicks. Frampton is mainly a special teams contributor, and doesn’t figure to get into the safety mix much. Unless the Vikes do something else in free agency, it appears Cook, who spent last year on the bench after being a starter for a couple of seasons, will be the team’s primary back-up at tackle and center. With [...]

Three items for a fine Sunday afternoon: Via the Star-Trib: Percy Harvin says he’s still having migraines, and probably will forever. Speaking of headaches: Ray Edwards is unhappy about his contract situation, and has begun using those phrases pro athletes always employ when they are cheesed at the team but want to seem diplomatic. Phrases like, “I want to get paid what’s fair. If it’s here or somewhere else.” Of course it’s not the Vikings‘ fault the CBA expired, leaving guys like Edwards to endure restricted free agency in a year when they were originally set to enjoy the unrestricted [...]