We got em

[bleedspeed]

Boom

Emmauel Lammur - http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/nfl/bengals/2016/03/08/cincinnati-bengals-linebacker-emmanuel-lamur-set-to-move-on/81507536/

Seems like a solid pickup. Good depth. Converted safety that should be good in coverage and special teams. I still wonder if we need a good MLB. I hope Greenway is back, but I am wondering if he will get any playing time if he is.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

This off season blows so far. We had a ton of cap space and we are dinking and dunking with fringe starters on cheap deals. We're signing a lot of depth guys when we had the money to make a splash and make a significant upgrade somewhere. Instead we have 1 ok signing (Boone) and a bunch of guys who have a high chance of being a waste of money. I think they backed themselves into a corner needing a great draft to make any significant strides next year. There's still time to add more pieces, but it's not looking promising.

Herm Edwards made an interesting point today on one of the ESPN radio shows about how paying a lot of money (and he said you nearly always overpay) to a FA outside of your franchise that guy better produce and or be a leader or it can become a problem in the locker room. I am not doing his point justice because I can't remember all of what he said but it put a little different spin on splashing in FA.

Personally I didn't think the Vikings were going to get any big time FA but they still could do something it's pretty early. Boone is a pretty good signing though in an area of great need plus they were able to keep Harris around for cheap. Just because you have lots of money doesn't mean the players you want are going to take it.

I don't know. We have a team full of guys who are gonna get paid themselves in the coming years. There are ways to make contracts where they don't kill you if a guy doesn't live up to his deal. And lastly winning solves a lot of problems and we project to be pretty good this year so even if the signed guy isn't great we'd be winning enough to avoid the locker room issues. The problem becomes we're signing depth in free agency and most of the draft is used to acquire depth players so where are we getting the starters we still need? Signing depth at safety, linebacker and the O-Line makes it almost a necessity to draft a WR in the first round and that depth at those other positions may not even be the solution. I'd have rather dropped 7 million a year on Iloka than sign 3 depth guys for the same price and then used the draft to get depth guys at those positions that need it. I just think we're backed into a corner now needing to crush this draft with starters if we want to take the next step as a team because we haven't made any significant upgrades to the roster yet. We've just made it so it likely isn't going to fall off a cliff if we get hit with the injury bug.

[Monster]

This off season blows so far. We had a ton of cap space and we are dinking and dunking with fringe starters on cheap deals. We're signing a lot of depth guys when we had the money to make a splash and make a significant upgrade somewhere. Instead we have 1 ok signing (Boone) and a bunch of guys who have a high chance of being a waste of money. I think they backed themselves into a corner needing a great draft to make any significant strides next year. There's still time to add more pieces, but it's not looking promising.

Herm Edwards made an interesting point today on one of the ESPN radio shows about how paying a lot of money (and he said you nearly always overpay) to a FA outside of your franchise that guy better produce and or be a leader or it can become a problem in the locker room. I am not doing his point justice because I can't remember all of what he said but it put a little different spin on splashing in FA.

Personally I didn't think the Vikings were going to get any big time FA but they still could do something it's pretty early. Boone is a pretty good signing though in an area of great need plus they were able to keep Harris around for cheap. Just because you have lots of money doesn't mean the players you want are going to take it.

I don't know. We have a team full of guys who are gonna get paid themselves in the coming years. There are ways to make contracts where they don't kill you if a guy doesn't live up to his deal. And lastly winning solves a lot of problems and we project to be pretty good this year so even if the signed guy isn't great we'd be winning enough to avoid the locker room issues. The problem becomes we're signing depth in free agency and most of the draft is used to acquire depth players so where are we getting the starters we still need? Signing depth at safety, linebacker and the O-Line makes it almost a necessity to draft a WR in the first round and that depth at those other positions may not even be the solution. I'd have rather dropped 7 million a year on Iloka than sign 3 depth guys for the same price and then used the draft to get depth guys at those positions that need it. I just think we're backed into a corner now needing to crush this draft with starters if we want to take the next step as a team because we haven't made any significant upgrades to the roster yet. We've just made it so it likely isn't going to fall off a cliff if we get hit with the injury bug.

I agree with a lot of your post but something to consider:

Name the big FA signings the Vikings had last year.

Name the Vikings draft picks that started or played significant roles for this division winning team.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

This off season blows so far. We had a ton of cap space and we are dinking and dunking with fringe starters on cheap deals. We're signing a lot of depth guys when we had the money to make a splash and make a significant upgrade somewhere. Instead we have 1 ok signing (Boone) and a bunch of guys who have a high chance of being a waste of money. I think they backed themselves into a corner needing a great draft to make any significant strides next year. There's still time to add more pieces, but it's not looking promising.

Herm Edwards made an interesting point today on one of the ESPN radio shows about how paying a lot of money (and he said you nearly always overpay) to a FA outside of your franchise that guy better produce and or be a leader or it can become a problem in the locker room. I am not doing his point justice because I can't remember all of what he said but it put a little different spin on splashing in FA.

Personally I didn't think the Vikings were going to get any big time FA but they still could do something it's pretty early. Boone is a pretty good signing though in an area of great need plus they were able to keep Harris around for cheap. Just because you have lots of money doesn't mean the players you want are going to take it.

I don't know. We have a team full of guys who are gonna get paid themselves in the coming years. There are ways to make contracts where they don't kill you if a guy doesn't live up to his deal. And lastly winning solves a lot of problems and we project to be pretty good this year so even if the signed guy isn't great we'd be winning enough to avoid the locker room issues. The problem becomes we're signing depth in free agency and most of the draft is used to acquire depth players so where are we getting the starters we still need? Signing depth at safety, linebacker and the O-Line makes it almost a necessity to draft a WR in the first round and that depth at those other positions may not even be the solution. I'd have rather dropped 7 million a year on Iloka than sign 3 depth guys for the same price and then used the draft to get depth guys at those positions that need it. I just think we're backed into a corner now needing to crush this draft with starters if we want to take the next step as a team because we haven't made any significant upgrades to the roster yet. We've just made it so it likely isn't going to fall off a cliff if we get hit with the injury bug.

I agree with a lot of your post but something to consider:

Name the big FA signings the Vikings had last year.

Name the Vikings draft picks that started or played significant roles for this division winning team.

I agree we've had great drafts, but I just think this was the year to add one or two big names to that solid foundation through the draft and then be able to take BPA. Then you have a bonus if they are good right away or buy time if they aren't. I just think we signed ourselves into a corner where if we don't draft a WR early it's a guaranteed weakness going into the season.

Also, Linval was probably the best player on the team last year and he was a FA pickup the year before so you can find very important pieces via that route.

[bleedspeed]

How much FA money do we have left? What WR would we target?

[TAFKASP]

Most teams have a lot of money available this year which means more competition for the top players, which in turn means those players are even more likely to get overpaid.

By all accounts the guard they signed is damn good, and at half the price that the Raiders paid for the guy the Vikings, and everybody else targeted first.

Personally I have a lot of faith in the Vikings front office, they've done well in their time here, both in the draft, trades, and free agency. This is a young team, their window is just now opening, now is not the time to throw all your chips on the table and reduce your window to only a couple years. That they're not going all in tells me they have a plan and they're sticking to it, given their track record I'm fine with that.

[Monster]

This off season blows so far. We had a ton of cap space and we are dinking and dunking with fringe starters on cheap deals. We're signing a lot of depth guys when we had the money to make a splash and make a significant upgrade somewhere. Instead we have 1 ok signing (Boone) and a bunch of guys who have a high chance of being a waste of money. I think they backed themselves into a corner needing a great draft to make any significant strides next year. There's still time to add more pieces, but it's not looking promising.

Herm Edwards made an interesting point today on one of the ESPN radio shows about how paying a lot of money (and he said you nearly always overpay) to a FA outside of your franchise that guy better produce and or be a leader or it can become a problem in the locker room. I am not doing his point justice because I can't remember all of what he said but it put a little different spin on splashing in FA.

Personally I didn't think the Vikings were going to get any big time FA but they still could do something it's pretty early. Boone is a pretty good signing though in an area of great need plus they were able to keep Harris around for cheap. Just because you have lots of money doesn't mean the players you want are going to take it.

I don't know. We have a team full of guys who are gonna get paid themselves in the coming years. There are ways to make contracts where they don't kill you if a guy doesn't live up to his deal. And lastly winning solves a lot of problems and we project to be pretty good this year so even if the signed guy isn't great we'd be winning enough to avoid the locker room issues. The problem becomes we're signing depth in free agency and most of the draft is used to acquire depth players so where are we getting the starters we still need? Signing depth at safety, linebacker and the O-Line makes it almost a necessity to draft a WR in the first round and that depth at those other positions may not even be the solution. I'd have rather dropped 7 million a year on Iloka than sign 3 depth guys for the same price and then used the draft to get depth guys at those positions that need it. I just think we're backed into a corner now needing to crush this draft with starters if we want to take the next step as a team because we haven't made any significant upgrades to the roster yet. We've just made it so it likely isn't going to fall off a cliff if we get hit with the injury bug.

I agree with a lot of your post but something to consider:

Name the big FA signings the Vikings had last year.

Name the Vikings draft picks that started or played significant roles for this division winning team.

I agree we've had great drafts, but I just think this was the year to add one or two big names to that solid foundation through the draft and then be able to take BPA. Then you have a bonus if they are good right away or buy time if they aren't. I just think we signed ourselves into a corner where if we don't draft a WR early it's a guaranteed weakness going into the season.

Also, Linval was probably the best player on the team last year and he was a FA pickup the year before so you can find very important pieces via that route.

Yep Joseph was a big signing and we were lucky to get him. the Vikings have gone all I on at least 1 big time player every year from that year on. Last year it was Michael Bennett but he went back to Cincy. Every big time FA I can think of that the Vikings have for sure been in on picked another very good situation over us so it's not like they haven't tried.

My point is I don't think we need to get too frustrated if the Vikings don't get that big time guy. Last year they didn't and they did use that cap space to add Mike Wallace who didn't work out but it was a move that made lots of sense at the time and they were able to walk away this year. There may be a similar situation this year and that player might be much more worthwhile. Really some of the biggest moves that the Vikigs have made the last couple years were keeping their own players like Everson or last year keeping Berger around for Peanuts and he went on to be the best olineman last year.

As for painting themselves into a corner having to draft WR in the first round I don't think so. Last year that's all we heard about and the Vikngs drafted a CB which was more of a need then than say now but I could see them taking a player that wasn't a WR again if they were the best player and also was an area

The Vikings recievers last year were not inspiring overall but that was partly because of the issues with the line. It really hurt that Rudy who would have helped as that big reciever they needed was blocking a lot. The Vikings have some young guys with some talent and maybe they feel like they can give them a shot and one will break through. CP is still on the team CJ had shown some promise and it seems like every time Theilen gets an opportunity he does a decent job. If the line is better and the Vikings can use their TEs that will be a big help as well. They also started using McKinnon all over the field as well so he adds a factor there. Don't get me wrong a big playmaking WR would be huge for this team but Indont think they HAVE to draft that in round one to end up with better receiving than last year. I don't want it to seem like Inam looking through rosey glasses but I do think there is some possible improvement from what they already have to work with.

[bleedspeed]

Rumors has it Andre Smith is coming for a visit.

http://www.cincyjungle.com/2013/10/4/4801024/from-bust-to-best-for-andre-smith

[slimcalhoun27 [enjin:6640095]]

I actually like having these character guys added to the mix. Not a big splash but each is recommended via coaches and they are the ones testifying to their ability. If any of them can improve special teams, add depth and security during injury, or regain former strength like Newman did last year....then we are in for a good year! Texans spend 17 mil for osweiler?! Seriously?

Now the draft can be BPA across the board and I'm hoping Doctson WR, then athlete athlete athlete.

Plus....I'm loving the Boone guy. He wanted to be here. That speaks loudly to the coaching staff, but to future FA players, that Minnesota is worth the cold. Winning attitude and a organization worth the chance in a New Stadium.

[bleedspeed]

I like Boone. Great value for us. Smith is coming to town on Sunday. If he signs with us this team's OL will be deep. It will give us a lot of flexibility to work with next year. I still hope to see us draft someone. Maybe the top center or if there is one a LT in the 1st round.