The smiley face indicates that Kennedy is happy about weighing 304 pounds. Maybe he should hook Bryant McKinnie up with his trainer.

Kennedy, a one-time first round pick who became regarded as a bust, was acquired by the Vikings in 2008 as insurance against Pat Williams being suspended for Starcaps. The suspension never materialized and Kennedy seemed to be settling in as a decent 2nd string tackle until 2010 when he was deactivated for several games and made his irritation at this known to the media.

As a result of his ineffectiveness and griping, Kennedy was one of the first guys cut by the Vikings after the new CBA went into effect. The Vikings are quite happy to go forth with Remi Ayodele and Fred Evans rotating at nose tackle.

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I’m guessing not many fans will lament the departure of Williams, a fine human being who just never made it after signing a large free agent contract years ago with the Vikings. Fairly or unfairly, Williams became one of Viking fandom’s main whipping boys last year until a concussion mercifully ended his season.

Never again will we have to watch Madieu take a bad angle or miss a tackle. As of now, the top two safeties on the Vikings roster are Husain Abdullah and Jamarca Sanford. Abdullah has shown promise and may be ready to lock down a starting job; the same can’t necessarily be said for Sanford or the Vikings’ other safety Tyrell Johnson. Some kind of move will have to be made now, we assume. With Eric Weddle off the market, the Vikings could turn their attention to Dawan Landry or Michael Huff, though I would be wary of signing Huff who has been known to induce vomiting in former Tampa Bay defensive linemen.

Fans will note that Bernard Berrian is not included among the released players. Yesterday Berrian tweeted that he’d met with Viking coaches and gotten a copy of the playbook, so I’d be surprised if they cut him. It’s not like they’re super-deep at receiver right now and Berrian’s cap number isn’t overly high.

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Ayodele began his career as an undrafted free agent and practice squad hand, but rose to become a starting tackle for the Saints during their Super Bowl year. Unfortunately for the Saints they had a ton of free agents to deal with this off-season and had to make tough choices. Ayodele was a guy they probably wanted to keep but it was just a numbers game.

The best news on Ayodele is that he’s a true nose tackle, just what the Vikings were looking for after deciding to part company with the under-producing and over-gripey Jimmy Kennedy. He’s looked upon as a solid, workmanlike player who will hold down his position. In other words he’s not exactly Pat Williams in his prime but he certainly sounds like an upgrade over what the Vikings had at NT going into the day.

We’ll wait to see the terms of this deal but I’m assuming the Vikings have given him four years. At 28, he sounds like a good long-term solution in the middle of the defensive line. Pat Williams may still be brought back for depth I suppose.

Update: Judd Zulgad reports that Ayodele’s deal is for 3 years at $9 million.

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