Looks Like The Vikings Were Right On Sidney Rice

by Christopher Gates on Jan 28, 2012 12:30 PM CST in Minnesota Vikings 2011 Season

Back before the NFL lockout hit last season, the Minnesota Vikings were faced with a choice. . .they had three players that they could justify using their franchise tag on, those players being defensive end Ray Edwards, linebacker Chad Greenway, and wide receiver Sidney Rice. Edwards was never really an option, as he spent the majority of the off-season complaining about being "mistreated" by Minnesota, and subsequently moved on to the Atlanta Falcons, where he spent 2011 in almost total irrelevance. (On an individual level, anyway. . .obviously, the Falcons were a pretty good football team this past season.)

Many folks were surprised when the Vikings chose Greenway over Rice. But Rice's injury history, likely coupled with the way he handled his hip injury after the 2010 season (when he decided to put off surgery until after training camp rather than having it when the issue was discovered) led the Vikings to that decision. In the end, it appears that the Vikings made the right decision, as it was reported a few days ago that Rice needed to have surgery on both shoulders after the 2011 season came to its conclusion.

To emphasize that the Vikings may have gotten it right on Rice. . .at least so far. . .let me compare the stats between two wide receivers.

	Games	Starts	Receptions	Yards	Average	Touchdowns	Long
Receiver A	11	7	38	466	12.3	3	72
Receiver B	9	9	32	484	15.1	2	52

One of those wide receivers is Sidney Rice, who signed a five-year contract with the Seattle Seahawks for $41 million, $18 million of which is guaranteed. The deal included a $6 million signing bonus.

One of those wide receivers is Michael Jenkins, who signed a three-year contract with the Vikings for $9 million (yes, total). Not sure how much of Jenkins' contract is guaranteed, but he got a $2 million signing bonus.

Can you tell the difference? I can't.

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I can tell the difference

Jenkins can lift both his arms above his shouders, whereas Sidney probably cannot.

"Go hard. I mean, like relentless. I want a bunch of coaches that coach like their hair’s on fire, and I want a football team that goes for four to six seconds (per play) with relentless effort." OSU Coach Urban Meyer.

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by Ted Glover on Jan 28, 2012 12:48 PM CST reply actions 2 recs

LOL

Ponder. Peterson. Percy. Purple Perfection.

by CCNorsemen on Jan 28, 2012 1:04 PM CST up reply actions

Lol twice

by midnightwonder on Jan 28, 2012 2:20 PM CST up reply actions

im guessing rice is receiver b

by Lunchpail on Jan 28, 2012 1:21 PM CST reply actions

I think Ponder's first pass in his first start

was a 72 yarder to Jenkins almost for a touchdown

by vikesfan4lyf on Jan 28, 2012 2:56 PM CST up reply actions

True

by Lunchpail on Jan 28, 2012 4:30 PM CST via mobile up reply actions

Yeah, that was the giveaway.

"Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain." - Lily Tomlin

by kcskol on Jan 29, 2012 2:06 PM CST up reply actions

Rice is definitely B

Jenkins didn’t start every game he was in (THANKS BERRIAN!). Rice did.

by Purpledork on Jan 28, 2012 4:52 PM CST up reply actions

i was going by

Games played seemed like rice was on the sideline more often than not

by Lunchpail on Jan 28, 2012 5:02 PM CST via mobile up reply actions

It also proves...

…that Sidney was more for real than some thought rather than a product of Favregnugen. If he’s healthy for 3 of those 5 years, it could be a worthwhile deal.

Still, the Vikes were right to let Seattle pay so much for such an injury-prone player.

by KC Viking on Jan 28, 2012 5:00 PM CST reply actions

from what I saw of Michael Jenkins

I liked alot. I think he’s as good or better than Rice, and hurt about the same amount of time. Tavaris had a much more solid season. Rice will never be a #1 receiver, #4 made him a ton of money.

by scottfromcmh on Jan 28, 2012 6:19 PM CST reply actions

What?

A healthy Rice is a top-5 receiver… Jenkins is nowhere near the level that Rice is. Don’t let the fact that he only had a great year with #4 under center fool you into thinking otherwise.

I like Jenkins, he is a very solid receiver and I am happy to have him on the team. He is a better value than Rice for sure, but nowhere near as good a receiver.

by Bjorno on Jan 30, 2012 3:59 PM CST up reply actions

I was mad when they let him walk...

But it appears they made another good FA decision. Greenway had a down year of sorts, but at least he played all year and wants to play for his team. I kind of wish they would of kept Leber and Pat, but I got over that quickly. Also, I was never really a big fan of keeping Edwards. By the way, has anyone heard anything else about his so-called “boxing career?” Or is that just something he’ll do in the offseason?

by christian220896 on Jan 28, 2012 6:45 PM CST reply actions

The way he disappeared this past season

it might be his next career move.

Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is a war room!

by VikesFaninNM on Jan 28, 2012 10:09 PM CST up reply actions

He may not have had a Brain Urlacher or Ray Lewis in his prime year...

But he is in the Pro Bowl…

by Purpledork on Jan 29, 2012 7:55 AM CST up reply actions

His boxing career is going to be short...

and by “Short” I mean he will only fight guys who are at least 4" shorter than he is.

by Bjorno on Jan 30, 2012 4:00 PM CST up reply actions

Rice Went For the Money

Which, I suppose, is what he should do. Look out for himself. Certainly, he won’t be featured in Canton, he’ll be lucky to play in the NFL again.

They were right to let Seattle take him. And any part that Speilman had in that decision, he gets credit for.

It’s still disappointing to see a talent like his go down like that.

Ah, ah,
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!
SKOL!

by DCPurple on Jan 28, 2012 8:01 PM CST reply actions

We let Rice and Edwards go for a total of $72 mil

We repalced them with a more productive Robison and an equal Jenkins for a grand total of $23 mil. Yeah, I would say we did pretty good for ourselves there.

by nmvikesfan on Jan 28, 2012 10:36 PM CST reply actions

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Don’t let facts get in the way for the Spielman haters out there. Good clean facts. Nice job nmvikesfan.

by NorthPoleNorseman on Jan 28, 2012 10:49 PM CST via mobile up reply actions

This is way off base and not even the point

The Vikings are going to be lucky to get a 4th round compensatory pick for Edwards. They could have traded him during the 2010 draft for at least a 3rd as they put a 3rd round tender on him. They decided to go for the “all in” option instead of planning for the future.

I had him being traded in several of my mocks that year because I felt they were not going to give Edwards a new deal and should have tried to get the most return on investment during that draft.

His stats this past year in Atlanta were not that great. He did have a knee issue to start the year but no excuses. It is normal for free agents to not do very well in their first year when they go to a new team. We shall see how it plays out beyond one year.

But I was wanting to trade him in 2010 and starting Robison that year too while keeping Jayme Mitchell (who started in Cleveland this past year for most of the games) to rotate.

As for Rice, it is disingenuous to say the Vikings did not want Rice. They tried to sign him but he chose Seattle. So they still wanted him. It could be that Seattle offered more money. That is what is reported. That the guaranteed money was slightly more. But Rice did not feel the love coming from the Vikings so he went where he felt like he was a wanted. I really do not know why the Vikings waited right until the last minute to offer him a new deal. If I was Rice I would have felt like they did not want me too.

The bottom line for me is that the Vikings did want Rice as evidence by their contract offer. They just did not give him enough. Is that justified now? Yes after one season. But that is shortsighted. We shall see how it plays out. I will say that I would have rather had Rice out there catching passes from Ponder than Jenkins. They may have been able to sign Jenkins too anyway.

It is way too early to determine if the Vikings did the right thing for me. I know they messed up the Edwards situation for sure. In fact they should have been more proactive with the Rice situation too. If they had approached him with a contract offer during the 2010 year and figured out that he wanted more they could have tried to trade him prior to the trade deadline. That is what I would have done.

Now they have to hope for a 3rd round compensatory pick for Rice. I think they could have received a better off that year even though he was coming off the hip surgery.

The organization did not plan for the future at all. They only were interested in trying to win now. That is the kind of thinking that leads to one good year followed by several years trying to rebuild. Teams should move players that they do not anticipate keeping (i.e. paying them what they want) before they walk away.

by MarkSP18 on Jan 29, 2012 11:07 AM CST up reply actions

Oh well.

That was the past and Rick Spielman at GM is the future. Hopefully they can now avoid these situations.

by christian220896 on Jan 29, 2012 12:24 PM CST up reply actions

the thing is, by the time the trade deadline rolled around in 2010, he hadn’t played a snap and the vikings still felt they could contend. no way that they were going to trade him. if the deadline had been pushed back and he was healthy, i could see it. and the fact of the matter is, i don’t think they REALLY wanted rice back. they knew what his injury history was like, so ya, i’m sure they were willing to bring him back for the right price, but i doubt they were going to offer him up a large guaranteed contract. and kudos to them for not. the dude could be super talented, but if he can’t stay healthy, then whats the point.

by RedHat16 on Jan 29, 2012 12:57 PM CST up reply actions

That's a bit harsh.

I like the idea of letting Edwards go in 2010 and using Robison and Mitchell in rotation. I liked Mitchell quite a bit and was very sorry to see him go for such little compensation. However, I can see why the Vikings kept Edwards on the team in 2010. He was a known quantity and getting a 4th for him ain’t bad. I don’t think the difference between a 3rd and a 4th is significant enough that I would be prepared to lose a good player a year early. Edwards had a monster playoff in 2009, and Robison was a role player who was questionable against the run and had a problem with jumping offsides. In the end, I think the Vikings did just fine in the end with the way they let things play out.

The Vikings also made the right call on Rice too. The guy was hurt 30% of the time he was with the Vikings… maybe more. He had one very good season in 2009. He was mediocre before and after that. Not signing Rice to a big deal was the right call, and I’m glad they didn’t feel pressured into doing something stupid. As for entertaining offers for Rice, I don’t think circumstances allowed for that. The Vikings were expecting Rice to play in 2010. He eventually decided he needed surgery. From that point on, who would take him? He wouldn’t play or practice for any team for most of 2010, and there were rumors about him having a degenerative hip and MIGHT not ever play again. Who knows if any teams would have been dissuaded by the rumors, but I can’t think of who in their right mind would have ponied up big bucks or a better than 4th round pick for a guy who wouldn’t play in most of 2010 and whose injury was considered quite serious.

All in all, I think there are plenty of tomatoes to throw at the Vikings management on all sorts of issues. However, I think the Vikings handled both Edwards and Rice quite well. Frankly, I would have told Rice to pound rocks the moment he hired Rosenduff.

"Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain." - Lily Tomlin

by kcskol on Jan 29, 2012 2:06 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs

This is where we differ

Most fans cannot see the forest for the trees or whatever that means.

The Vikings knew full well they were not going to resign Ray for what he wanted. They put a 1st round tender on him and surely would have received a 2nd in return.

I will maintain to this day, as I have posted this in the past, that you cannot convince me that Tennessee would not have accepted the #30 pick and Ray Edwards for the #16 pick in that draft. No way. They needed a DE bad and took Derrick Morgan at that pick. Plus they did not have a second round pick. So if you are the Titans, would you pass up that deal. Get a DE and still have a first round pick? That would have been stupid.

The Vikings would have been able to get Maurkice Pouncey too. He was reportedly the #1 player on their board that year too. Thus you go get your guy if you can.

Even if they did not do that they could have traded him to Cincinnati for their 2nd round pick. I think those deals would easily have been doable.

I would take those deals over a compensatory pick all day.

But it is useless for me to continue because too many posters do not have a long term vision for the team. They do not believe in making proactive moves like this ala New England and getting something for a guy before he walks away for an unknown possible compensatory pick which is reliant on the team NOT signing too many free agents.

This is the way you continually add good players to the roster. You get something for players you know you are not going to keep.

They could have tried to see what they could get for Rice too. Plenty of playoff teams (Atlanta for one) could have used a WR like Rice that year. He was expected back in week 10 so that would have given him plenty of time to work into a new offense.

I just view the front office decisions differently than others and I am more critical. I do not believe they are above reproach.

I refuse to be a sheep being led off a cliff because “I trust in the front office”. Not saying you are.

by MarkSP18 on Jan 29, 2012 3:56 PM CST up reply actions

Man oh man, I wanted the Vikes to get Pouncey.

I frankly didn’t expect Pouncey to go so high. Shows what I know when it comes to the draft. I thought he might go late, late 1st or high 2nd round. I thought we had a shot where we were.

In hindsight, I’m tempted by the “Edwards plus a move from 30th to 16th” trade. I’m not sure I would have had the guts to do that at the end of 2009 however. I would have wanted to see more from Robison in 2010 to make sure that I thought he could fill Ray’s shoes. Plus Ray looked on fire in the playoffs of 2009. Are we certain that the Vikings had made up their mind that they weren’t going to resign Edwards by the end of ‘09? I think it took 2010 for them to make up their minds on that and partly because Robison started to play smart football in addition to being athletic and quick, and partly because Edwards was a constant pain in the *ss about his contract. With hindsight, I’d absolutely agree with your suggestion. At the time though, I think I would have been very hesitant to make that move.

BTW, I’m all for the Vikings shopping their aging vets these days. I’d be open to hearing offers for Allen, Peterson, Winfield, K. Williams, et.al. There are no sacred cows here.

I think the Rice thing just wasn’t going to happen because of the timing the way things went down. I would think that the Vikings would have put out feelers about Rice, or at least entertain offers had any come their way. It was pretty clear that Rice had expectations that went way beyond reason IMO. I just don’t think anyone would have been willing to give much up for Rice when there was a question about his long-term health and short-term ability to impact 2010.

"Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain." - Lily Tomlin

by kcskol on Jan 29, 2012 5:21 PM CST up reply actions