The Minnesota Vikings fielded one of the worst secondaries in the National Football League in 2011, a group that set an NFL record by going nine games without intercepting a pass despite playing behind a front seven that tied for the NFL lead in sacks. The group will undoubtedly be a part of the focus for the team during this off-season.

To that end, according to Jeremy Fowler of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Vikings have reached out to former Oakland Raiders cornerback Stanford Routt, who was released by the Silver and Black yesterday.

As Fowler points out, Routt's statistics from last season show both reasons to consider him and reasons he should be avoided. On the upside, he allowed only 47.4% of the passes thrown his direction to be completed, and he had four interceptions and 15 passes defended in 2011. . .on the downside, he also allowed eight touchdown passes last year and was the most penalized DB in the league, getting flagged 17 times.

Routt has decent size (6'1", 195 according to the numbers from NFL.com), but isn't really considered a "Cover 2" sort of player. Then again, new defensive coordinator Alan Williams, while a Tampa-2 disciple of sorts, might be more interested in something more aggressive. . .man, I hope so. . .that Routt could do well in.

The cornerback market is going to be pretty loaded in free agency, however. Some of the names that will be available are Cortland Finnegan, Brandon Carr (my personal choice), Brent Grimes, Tracy Porter, and Carlos Rogers, among others. But at least we know that the Vikings are at least attempting to do something at a spot we know they need to do something at.

Yippee, more stadium drama stuff!

Today on As the Stadium Turns, the folks from Ramsey County have finally come up with their third different stab at a financing plan for a stadium at the Vikings' preferred site in Arden Hills. This one, like some of the other ones, makes entirely too much sense. That means that it probably stands no chance at passing or gaining any real traction, either.

Man, I'm starting to think that this whole thing is making me even more cynical than normal.

So, what is Ramsey County proposing this time?

Ramsey County's third stab at a financing plan for a Minnesota Vikings stadium in Arden Hills relies on revenue from parking lot naming rights, parking fees, an admissions surcharge, stadium sales taxes and taxes collected on ancillary developments.

The proposal, projected to raise $20.6 million per year from the assortment of user fees, comes as stadium supporters rush to cobble together a workable plan for the legislative session and as funding concepts proposed by Minneapolis and state officials appear to be faltering.

So, let's see here. . .all of the stuff to pay for the stadium will come as a direct result of things relating to the stadium. . .no new taxes. . .doesn't involve gambling in any way.

Yeah, the whole thing makes too damn much sense. And it's not located in Minneapolis. It has no shot.

Speaking of Minneapolis, as the snippet quoted above mentions, the Minneapolis funding plan appears to be falling short financially. . .according to the Star-Tribune, it's falling short to the tune of $55 million, and the gap could eventually rise to as much as $100 million. If I didn't know any better, I'd think that Minneapolis didn't totally think their stadium proposals all the way through and pulled something out of their collective asses at the last minute in a last-ditch, desperate effort to keep the stadium in Minneapolis somehow.

But now we have a new financing plan at the Vikings' preferred location. Hopefully something. . .anything. . .will get accomplished in the near future here. The Vikings need to declare where they're going to play by this Wednesday, and have said that they're not signing a new lease or extended lease with the Metrodome unless they have assurances that something is going to be in place for a new stadium.

The clock is ticking, folks. . .but if history has taught us anything on this subject, we should probably just assume that the Minnesota legislature will once again find a way to roll over and hit the "snooze" button rather than actually getting up and doing anything.

This evening, while engaging in some work-related nerdery. . .and I'm not sure that's even a real word, but work with me here. . .I came across one of the first signs that 2012 will be a much better year for the Vikings than this past season was. Granted, that's not a high hurdle to clear, but still.

No, it turns out that a couple from Pennsylvania went out to empty some of the traps they have in their yard to keep rodents away from their numerous bird feeders, and found a purple squirrel. Yes, the squirrel was purple. That's the squirrel up there in the corner.

Nobody knows how it was that the squirrel came to be purple, although numerous theories have been advanced. The couple in the story, Percy and Connie Emert, make their home in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, so it's probably just a matter of time before the squirrel starts fist-pumping, walking around with a fauxhawk, and getting involved in a relationship with Snooki.

And, if you're interested, the purple squirrel has its own FaceBook page and its own Twitter account. . .because really, why wouldn't it?

But, if you believe in omens. . .well, this has to have some meaning for our favorite football team, doesn't it? Unless you think the squirrel is connected to the Baltimore Ravens somehow, which is clearly not the case.

Hi gang, sorry I've been incognito over the last week or so--just having a heckuva time trying to find some stuff to write about.

And the saga that is the Vikings quest for a new stadium seems to be just the slump buster I need to get out of this funk. So I go back to you, stadium saga, like a fat chick at last call. I'm desperate to write, you're desperate to have your story told, let's get out of here.

So, where do we stand today, with the Legislature in session and time running out?

Well, if we are to believe The Godfather, the only site that is now under serious consideration is the site adjacent to the Metrodome. Not the Metrodome site, not the Basilica, not Arden Hills, but the site adjacent to the Metrodome.

The advantage to that is that most, or at least a good part of, the new stadium could be built around the Metrodome, and it would only require the VIkings to play one season, 2015, at TCF Bank Stadium. It's also good that they are focusing solely on one site, because really, it's long past time to settle on a site and get to the brass tacks and get something done.

And if you want an idea of how they would build a stadium adjacent to an existing one, click on this link here. It's a pretty cool time-lapse of Busch stadium in St. Louis being built adjacent to the old one, and how they partially built the new one to a point, and then demolished the old one while finishing the new stadium.

But wait, THERE'S MORE!! After the jump.

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With Valentine's Day coming up on Tuesday next week you're probably contemplating what new and wonderful thing you can do for your Valentine to make the holiday special. Or, you might be a nervous wreck who has just realized the holiday of romance is just a week away and you have yet to make any plans.

Well, not to fear because the Minnesota Vikings' convalescing running back, Adrian Peterson, is here with the answer--he's giving you the chance to win a Valentine's Day phone call for your Valentine. That's right, our favorite running back could call your Valentine for you on February 14. What Viking fanatic wouldn't want a call from Peterson on Valentine's Day? With Adrian Peterson as your cupid, you won't look stupid. Well, you probably won't look stupid, but that could change if you decide to wear fuzzy cupid wings.

Why would Peterson come to your aid on Valentine's Day? Well, Adrian Peterson is trying to raise money and awareness for Football for Good, an organization that helps at-risk kids. Football for Good has partnered with GlobalMojo, to "leverage their browser app to generate funds for Football for Good." When you make purchases from Football for Good's online partners (like FTD, hint-hint), it raises money for the charity.

For more information on Football for Good and how this browser application works you can visit Football for Good's website. Adrian Peterson has also been promoting Football for Good and the Valentine's Day contest on his Facebook page.

I know I'm a bit late to the party on this, and I know that Kyle already covered it, but I wanted to throw out my own take on the running gag that is Cris Carter's continued exclusion from the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

As I sat in my recliner on Saturday afternoon, watching the announcement of the Hall of Fame Class of 2012 on the NFL Network, I really, truly thought that this was the year that Carter was going to make it in. Yes, he had the same fairly stiff competition at wide receiver that he's had the past couple of years in Tim Brown and Andre Reed, but when it was announced that Brown hadn't even made it past the first cut, I thought that Carter was a cinch. Chris Doleman had made the cut as well, so I thought that there was a great chance that the Minnesota Vikings would pull off the relatively rare feat of getting two Hall of Famers in one class.

However, it was not to be, as Carter was eliminated in the second cut, and wound up getting passed over for his rightful place in Canton for the fifth time. I couldn't believe it. . .the guy that the NFL Network said had the best hands in the history of the National Football League and a guy that should have gotten in as a first-ballot Hall of Famer had been jobbed one more time.

Over the days since the Class of 2012 has been announced, I've looked at various online sources and attempted to determine why it is, exactly, that Cris Carter keeps getting snubbed. A couple of themes kept repeating themselves, and so I'd like to take a minute to thoroughly debunk them.

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