With the looming labor disagreement, it appears that players will not be working with their team organizations as they would normally this offseason. In fact, they might not be working with them at all.

This could be a year where the regular season is less than 16 games. The advantage would go to the teams that hit the ground running.

The year 2011 might be kind of like the year 1987, when the unheralded Vikings fought all the way to the last second of the NFC Championship game. Except this time, there is a stronger collection of talent and role players on the Vikings roster.

The labor disagreement might turn into a lockout, or a strike. Nothing would prevent the Vikings players from working out together on their own as players, without the team, however. Now it looks like that some Vikings have made plans to do just that. Joe Webb wants to get together with his receivers to go over what they know about the playbook from Musgrave, in the event of a work stoppage. Veteran Shiancoe supports it. If the Vikings work and practice as a team while the other teams separate and don't spend their time together, the Vikings will own a huge advantage going into the season.

Now, looking over to another issue, the offensive system, there is another interesting development. If we needed any more confirmation that the new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave appears to be a great hire by Coach Frazier, Phil Loadholt has mentioned that the Vikings will run a mix of zone and man blocking next year. Furthermore, Musgrave will retain elements of the West Coast Offense and add to it. The perfect decisions for our team and our offense.

Go VIkings!