When and if Pitts is able to return from the injury, which required him to undergo microfracture surgery, it is likely he will do so with a new team. So far, the Texans have shown “very little to [no]” interest in retaining Pitts’ services, despite the 7 years of solid work he put in for them.

Pitts himself reports that he has been contacted by several teams, including the Seattle Seahawks and the Minnesota Vikings.

“I actually had Minnesota call last week and want to know where I was [in the rehab process],” Pitts says.

Most observers agreed going into the draft that the Vikings needed to upgrade their depth along the offensive line, especially with the loss of Artis Hicks. They did end up taking lineman Chris DeGeare of Wake Forest, but not until the 5th round.

That left the Vikings still searching for someone to replace Hicks, who filled in at both guard and tackle the last few seasons.

Pitts would seem a logical selection to become the new Artis. He’s a reliable veteran who can play multiple positions, and considering his injury situation, he will come cheap.

Pitts also fits the standard Brad Childress-era offensive lineman profile in one other important way: he is considered more of a finesse blocker than an overpowering type.

I’m not sure he would be much of an upgrade over Anthony Herrera, if your purpose were to replace Herrera at right guard, but it’s always nice to have options.

Fans may have noticed, however, that the Vikes didn’t run a single play out of the Wildcat formation against the Browns.

So what gives?  Is the Wildcat on ice or is Brad Childress just waiting for the right moment to unveil it?

In his Thursday press conference, Chilly seemed to indicate that the Wildcat has indeed been put on the shelf for the time being.

“It’s something we just played around with in the offseason, that’s all,” the Chillster explained. “We’re a lot better right now doing what we do most of the time and taking one more turn at that. That’s kind of how we’re looking at it.”

Reporters then asked Chilly the obvious question:  Did the decision to put aside the Wildcat have anything to do with Brett Favre‘s crackback block in the Texans preseason game?

“No,” Chilly said with a grin, “we’ve got that corrected.”

Oh yeah, they’ve corrected Favre’s bad blocking technique – by throwing out all the plays that might’ve required him to block.

I’m not saying we won’t see the Wildcat again this year.  I’m saying, if we do see it, it will be because Brett is out and Tarvaris Jackson is in.

And personally I think shelving the Wildcat is the right option.  Let Percy Harvin, our supposed Wildcat specialist, catch passes from Brett and make people miss and score touchdowns.  Let Adrian The Lizard King run over people.  Leave the gimmicks to the teams that need them.

The play happened during Monday night’s preseason game, when Favre, lined up wide in the Wildcat, attempted to block for Percy Harvin.  The play received almost instantaneous negative reaction, not just because Favre had blatantly cheap-shotted a guy, but because the Vikings looked like idiots for risking Favre on such a play in such a meaningless game.

The Vikings were actually dumb on several fronts in this instance.  Yes, it was silly to call the play in the first place, but it was also silly for them to not have schooled Favre better in the blocking rules. Darrell Bevell and Brad Childress should each pay half of Brett’s fine, since it was their fault the situation went down in the first place.

Then, when they get done doing that, or at the very least apologizing to Brett for hanging him out there, they should tear the Wildcat pages out of their playbooks, chew them up until they resemble paste and spit them into the toilet.  This will be difficult if the pages are laminated.