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It’s official. The Minnesota Vikings’ 2005 Draft was a bust. With the release of defensive end Erasmus James today, the team pretty much wiped their 2005 slate clean. There’s virtually nothing left to show for their choices.

It’s not that their picks were bad ones — at the time. In fact, it looked like a promising group. I thought it was a stretch to take wide receiver Troy Williamson with the seventh overall pick. The Vikes were just trying to replace Randy Moss and, of course, that didn’t work out. Troy couldn’t catch the ball and now he’s biding his time in Jacksonville. But taking Wisconsin DE Erasmus James 18th overall seemed like a great idea. He was going to be the next Jevon Kearse. Not so fast. After scoring four sacks in 15 games during his rookie season, Erasmus had a series of serious knee injuries that cut into his playing time. He tore the ACL in his left knee in Week 2 of the 2006 season. Then, after a long rehab, he returned to the Vikings and played only sparingly in just six games last year. Then he suffered a similar injury to the same knee in Week 13 against Detroit and was once again placed on injured reserve. Vikings head coach Brad Childress was expecting Erasmus to make a full recovery but after he recently failed a physical during OTAs, the team wished him the best and sent him packing.

I’d like to believe another team would give Erasmus a chance. After all, he’s only 25-years-old. But when you look at his injury history and disappointing stats, it’s hard to imagine why anyone would. As for the rest of the Vikings’ 2005 class: Dustin Fox, Ciatrick Fason, C.J. Mosley, and Adrian Ward are no longer with the team. Only second round OT Marcus Johnson remains.

Source: Vikings.com

Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

Vikings Waive DE Erasmus James

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It’s official. The Kansas City Chiefs have traded All-Pro defensive end Jared Allen to the Minnesota Vikings for three picks in this weekend’s NFL Draft. The Vikings give up their first-round pick (17th overall) plus both of their third-round picks (73rd and 82nd overall). Initially, the Chiefs wanted Minnesota’s first and second-round spots, but the Vikings had enough Draft picks (nine) to negotiate with. Considering their second-round pick non-negotiable, they decided to abandon their two third-round picks instead and the Chiefs jumped at the opportunity. KC now has 13 total selections in this 2008 NFL Draft as they try to rebuild their program.

Photos Courtesy Minnesota Vikings

Jared Allen wanted no part of a rebuilding program. As he approaches the prime of his career, Jared saw that the Vikings (who signed him for six years and nearly $74 million with $31 million guaranteed) were really only a player or two away from being serious playoff contenders. Along with the “Williams Wall” (tackles Kevin and Pat), Minnesota now has three Pro Bowlers on their D-line and a very legitimate pass rush. You know the numbers. The Vikings could stop the run (they were the NFL’s best last season) but couldn’t stop the pass. Opposing teams gave up trying to run on the Vikes and Minnesota couldn’t muster enough of a pass rush to prevent themselves from becoming the league’s worst pass defense. With Kenechi Udeze recovering from leukemia and Erasmus James recuperating from a third knee operation, it was pretty clear the Vikings needed help at the defensive end position.

Jared’s only going to make the rest of the Vikings better. I’m talking specifically about players like Ray Edwards (who should start opposite Jared at DE) and DBs Antoine Winfield, Cedric Griffin and Marcus McCauley. As long as Jared can stay healthy and out of trouble, the opportunistic Vikings will have arguably the NFL’s best defense to go along with an offense led by superstar running back Adrian Peterson. If QB Tarvaris Jackson can “manage” the offense, Minnesota will be tough to beat. Super Bowl contenders? In the wide-open NFC, why not?

Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

Chiefs Trade Jared Allen to Vikings

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The Minnesota Vikings have been very active early in this free agency signing period, adding three projected starters in the first two days.

• The Vikings found a replacement for free agent All-Pro FB Tony Richardson by signing Thomas Tapeh from Philadelphia. Thomas is a native of Minnesota and was a running back for the Golden Gophers in college at the University of Minnesota. I think T2 is a great pickup, but I feel it’s a mistake to let Tony Richardson go. He was a big reason the Vikes had the best running game in the NFL last season. Thomas will not only have to plow a path for Adrian Peterson (like he did for Brian Westbrook), he’ll have to occasionally catch the ball, something TR did quite well when asked to.
• Minnesota added 26-year-old former Cincinnati Bengals free safety Madieu Williams. Madieu is very solid at his position with good cover skills (he came into the NFL four years ago as a cornerback). He had 74 tackles, two picks and two sacks in 13 games last season.
• The Vikings wooed and won over former Chicago Bears WR Bernard Berrian who was considered by many the second best wideout in this free agency class behind Randy Moss. B2 had a breakout season in ‘07 with, by far, the best numbers of his four-year career — 71 catches for 951 yards. Minnesota desperately needs help at the receiver position. They finished dead last in receptions last season. Now with Bernard on one side and the exciting Sidney Rice on the other — plus speedy WR/KR Aundrae Allison — the Vikings have a young and talented group to help take the pressure off the ground game.

Minnesota has not yet addressed their need for a defensive end who can apply pressure on the quarterback. They wanted to bring former Bengals DE Justin Smith in for an interview but he negotiated with the 49ers and never left San Francisco. Titans DE Antwan Odom is a great candidate. Despite his injury history, I still like Jevon Kearse, who is also available. Jags DE Bobby McCray is also out there. Sure the Vikes have a herd of players that could fill this pass-rushing role. They’ve addressed the need in previous Drafts, but none have proven, for one reason or another, that they are capable of the role yet — namely Erasmus James, Ray Edwards and Kenechi Udeze (who is now battling leukemia). The verdict is still out on Jayme Mitchell and Brian Robison.

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Minnesota Vikings Active in Free Agency, Bernard Berrian Fills Need at Wide Receiver