It Seems The Vikings Cut Ties With Ray Edwards Just In Time
Remember last offseason when we were debating on whether or not to re-sign Ray Edwards? He was coming off a very promising 2010 season, his second straight with 8 or more sacks. But he was also asking for a hefty new contract and seemed to have little interest in remaining a member of the Minnesota Vikings. (If you recall, he seemed to be much more invested in his offseason boxing career.) So he left, signing a 5 year, $30 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons. Most Vikings fans (including myself) were a little disappointed when Edwards left, but also understood that the price tag was probably too steep.
And then the news came out that Edwards had "minor" knee surgery, causing him to miss his first preseason game as a Falcon.
And then Edwards struggled through the majority of his 2011 season, accumulating only 3.5 sacks and making much less of an impact than the Falcons had hoped for.
And now, Atlanta head coach Mike Smith has disclosed that Edwards has had another knee surgery.
This isn't meant to celebrate the guy's misfortune by any means, but I think we can all appreciate the fact that the Vikings seemed to have dodged a bullet in this case. Brian Robison had a much more productive 2011 season than Edwards at a much more affordable price. Best of luck to Edwards in his recovery from another knee surgery; I'm just glad his rehab will be on another team's dime. The Vikings have enough to worry about as it is.
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Hindsight is 20/20
And it’s nice to see the front office had the foresight when deciding who to keep last year. Sidney Rice and Ray Edwards have each had multiple surgeries since the Vikings let them walk (and I was disappointed about both). Chad Greenway, who the Vikings tagged, got himself a Pro-Bowl nod in what was a down year for him.
Called It
I had posted once before that he was over rated and should have been a yearly double digit sack man when lined up with K-Will, Phat Pat, & BAJA. Glad the vikes listened to common sense and let him go. His attitude was crap, and didn’t produce enough with what he was given to warrant the contract he got. Nobody even cared who he was outside of Minnesota until he had that nice post-season. Good riddance and good luck Ray Ray….your going to need it now that you have to rely on skill alone.
Why Ray?...Why?
I agree with 99% of your post. I wouldn’t say he was overrated but overrated to get the contract that he wanted. If 2009 was his contract year…then he would’ve had a better chance at getting a better contract. Honestly, his 2010 mirrored Jared Allen. He did next to nothing and when Jared started getting sacks in the second half of the season…so did Ray?! Hmmm…I wish him the best and I still respect the guy as a player because I believe most Vikes fans shouldn’t turn their back on players that have done a lot for them…otherwise…we’d be Packer fans. I don’t know why he was running his mouth about the organization and his money, but its funny how in this league when players want the money and want respect…they usually get money, injury and are forgotten. We may not ever forget Ray Edwards and Dallas Cowboy fans may not either until they win another playoff game, but sorry Ray you’re not a superstar outside of Minnesota.
get better ray...kick some ass next year!
well then who the hell are you talkin' to...are you talkin' to me?
comp picks for us
headaches for other teams . woot 2 right moves.
comp picks.
I will admit i didnt like letting ray go,i liked having both him and robison join kevin and jared to get after the qb.i liked the way robison could play inside and outside.With that being said i am very happy we let him go.It saved us money and also let everson griffen get more playing time.good luck to ray in the future.now lets get a dt with his comp pick and all will b great.
Need more of this
This is the type of move good teams make to stay good. Edwards was liked by fans and players alike. But they felt Robison was a better value and made a decision that way. It turned out to be the correct decision.
Unfortunately they also signed Greenway, who was perhaps the worst outside linebacker in the NFC last season, to a hefty extension. Those types of moves can offset the good ones.
Personally I think that Speilman is good at his job and coaching/bad luck have been our biggest problem developing talent consistently.
Worst outside LB in the NFC?
Really? Greenway made the Pro Bowl last year. He had 154 tackles last year…that is an obscene amount and ranked 3rd highest in the NFL.
Ponder. Peterson. Percy. Purple Perfection.
Erin Henderson had a bazillion less tackles, but he's better?
Not buying Greenway being bad. For an OUTSIDE linebacker, the guy’s a freak. It is RARE that the inside linebacker on a 4-3 isn’t the biggest tackler, and Greenway came across the field to make tackles on young Henderson’s side consistently.
by liveforadrenaline on Feb 27, 2012 1:30 PM CST up reply actions
Ray made his release relatively easy
On the field, he was fine – great in the ’09 playoffs and pretty decent the rest of the time. I think his contract-related behavior is what made parting with him relatively easy.
"Men are creatures with two legs and eight hands. - Jayne Mansfield
Well, yet more proof that I have no business being a personnel guy in the NFL
I would’ve tried like hell to keep Edwards and Rice.
Doh!!
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again. Do it a little harder next time." Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer.
What if they didn't have injuries in 2011?
I think we’d all be kicking ourselves right about now. I mean, maybe the training staff knew more than most, and saw them both as injury-prone. But maybe not.
Ponder. Peterson. Percy. Purple Perfection.
Can't play that 'what if' game, though
Because inuries are part of the equation, moreso in football than any other sport.
And after the impressive rehab runs head trainer Eric Sugarman has had with E.J. Henderson, Cedric Griffin, and now, hopefully, Adrian Peterson, his opinion probably carried a lot of weight in the final analysis, at least I would hope so.
I hope these guys are healthy and have good careers. But at least in the short term, the Vikes made the right call on both.
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again. Do it a little harder next time." Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer.
This is why
I don’t totally get the knock against Spielman, the coaches and the training staff. Some were pretty hard on them after letting these guys go last offseason, and still seem to be. While yes, I’d say a few blunders along the way, but nothing on the order of all for a Rickey Williams or drafting a Ryan Leaf nightmare. While the QB debate will rage for awhile, hell, either way, we have 2 very viable QB’s of the future. And right now, we are in position to have a very great shot at shoring up an attrcious O-Line this draft. If it was still Chilly calling the shots, I would be alot more worried about something “cute” being pulled in the draft.
Right now, it seems alot of good moves, and right calls have been made quietly, instead of major F’ Up splashes.
Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is a war room!
by VikesFaninNM on Feb 27, 2012 12:58 PM CST reply actions 2 recs
Good post. Rec
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again. Do it a little harder next time." Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer.
Why do Vikings free agents suck ass everywhere else or get injured?
If I were Minnesota I’d try and make trades let high quality FAs all exclusively within the NFC North. ;)
Read my tweets or whatever - @SSReporters

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