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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Yes you read that correctly, the highest-paid safety in the history of the NFL. That’s what’s called breaking the bank for your guy. Obviously the Vikings were not willing to go anywhere near that high for someone who is thought of a solid but by no means elite player at his position, so they basically had no shot at Weddle despite any speculation that may have gone down the last couple of days.

The Vikings I assume are still looking around at other free agent safety options, with an eye toward replacing Madieu Williams who according to his agent has no interest in restructuring, meaning he will at some point be cut outright.

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Via David Canter, free agent safety Eric Weddle’s agent, when asked if he’s been in contact w/ the #Vikings: “Yes. We’ve spoken.”

If the Vikings are indeed in pursuit of Weddle, you can probably kiss goodbye Madieu Williams. And who will shed a tear for the underperforming Madoo? Not I.

Okay I’m getting a little loopy from trying to keep up with all this stuff.

On Weddle: He’s considered a sure tackler, not necessarily a speed burner but fast enough, and a smart player who hopefully would hold down one of the two safety positions with a little more assurance than Madieu did the last couple of seasons. I suppose the Vikes could always sign Weddle and keep Madieu but…God I hope that’s not what they’re thinking.

Update: More signs the Vikings may be ready to part ways with Madieu Williams and replace him with Eric Weddle (or someone else). Reports say the Vikings are not attempting to restructure Williams’ contract, an almost certain sign they mean to cut him outright. Williams’ agent, when asked about the Vikings possibly approaching Williams to renegotiate, had the following stern response: “That would not be a smart move on the Vikings behalf. He would never go for that.” You’re right agent guy. The smart move would be to send him packing.

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