Seventh-round pick Jamarca Sanford inked a deal with the Vikings last week, becoming the first player in the team's 2009 draft class to sign -- and now, we have another player to add to that list.  The team announced today that fifth-round pick Jasper Brinkley, a linebacker, has reached a contract agreement:

The Vikings thought enough of Brinkley that they traded a fifth- and seventh-round pick to Washington in order to move up in the fifth round and grab him. The Vikings project Brinkley as the backup to E.J. Henderson at middle linebacker, a position they had to scramble to fill last season after Henderson was lost early in the season because of injury. Brinkley also should play a significant role on special teams this season.

If he can contribute on special teams this season, it'd be fair to call the selection of Brinkley a good one in my book.  As you may recall, he went down with a devastating knee injury in 2007 -- he returned to the field in 2008 but wasn't quite up to par with his pre-injury level of performance. Here's hoping his rebound from the injury continues this season, because if it does, Brinkley could turn out to be an excellent value from the fifth round.

Based on the pattern so far -- starting with the seventh-round pick and working backwards -- Asher Allen would logically be the next member of the draft class to sign.  We'll have to wait and see if that ends up being the case.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, professional football's latest attempt to compete with the National Football League will be kicking off their season in October 2009, and they held their premiere draft for the league last night.  Each of the four franchises (Las Vegas, Orlando, New York, San Francisco) selected 24 players to build their franchise around, and there are a few names on the list that should be fairly familiar to Vikings fans.

If you want to base your NFL cheering preferences on which team has the most former Vikings on the roster (at this point, anyway). . .it looks like the Orlando franchise is the one for you.  Among their new additions are QB Brooks Bollinger, S Mike Doss, and TE Jermaine Wiggins.  They aren't the only Viking alumni in the new league, however.  Former Vikings' coach Denny Green will be the head coach of the San Francisco franchise, and former Vikings' defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell will be the head coach in Las Vegas (Jim Haslett and Jim Fassel will coach Orlando and Las Vegas, respectively).

The other former Vikings player in the UFL at this time is DB Oliver Celestin, who I know spent a season or two on the practice squad with the Vikings, but I'm not sure he ever made the big club.  Marcus Fitzgerald, the younger brother of Larry that the Vikings took a look at after the draft, is a member of the San Francisco roster.  With only about half of each team's 50-man roster filled out to this point, I'm sure we'll be seeing more Minnesota alumni popping up in the league as they progress towards their kickoff in October.

I'm not sure how wise an idea it is to try to go head-to-head with the NFL during their season, but the UFL might be worth a look.  With only four teams for now, there won't be a lot of match-up variety or anything, but if they're successful in their first season, I'm sure there will be more to come.  No other league has been successful in America, however (see also:  the USFL, the XFL, the WLAF), and the odds are certainly against the UFL at the start.

Well, the Patriots did it. They franchised Matt Cassel.

Cassel is still technically a free agent, but if the Vikings or any other team want him, it'll cost quite a bit. Like two first round picks quite a bit.

Personally, I loved the idea of bringing Cassel in to take over for our current poo-poo platter of quarterbacks, but he'll cost way too much. There's no doubt he exceeded everyone's expectations this past season, but there are still way too many questions about him:

• Will he get Derek Anderson Syndrome, fizzling out after being a one-year wonder at QB?
• Was he a product of the Belichick System, which makes the "Kick Ass Offense" look like it was drawn in the sand? (Note: I'm still waiting for definitive proof that the K.A.O. isn't actually drawn in the sand.)
• Even if he plays as well as he did this past season or better, is that worth giving up two first rounders?

I believe there are very few people in the league that are worth trading two first round picks for, and Matt Cassel is not one of them. But what do you guys think? Let us know on the poll and comments.

Hey, remember last night when I said that the Vikings were throwing their 2009 second-round pick into their trade offer for Jared Allen?

You do?  Aw, crap.

Anyway, our good friend Judd Zulgad at the Star-Tribune is making it sound as though that's not the case.

They COULD increase their offer. . .that tells me that they haven't done it yet.

Don't get me wrong, I still think that this is going to get done regardless.  But, in my somewhat biased view, the less the Vikings have to pay, the better.  I have no problem with them throwing in next year's #2 if it gets Allen here, but all other things being equal, #17 and #73 this year are just fine by me.

And remember, folks, tomorrow is the day that Daily Norseman v2.0 will hit the Internet.  The transition will probably happen sometime during the late night/early morning hours, so by the time you wake up in the morning, it's possible that this very website will have a whole new look.  I hope you've started reserving your accounts and learning a little bit about the new platform. . .the guys behind the scenes and I will try able to help you out as best we can.

Have a good evening, folks!

Take this for what it's worth. . .this information comes from an Insider article that was published on Viking Update.  Per protocol and common decency, I'm not going to link to the article here (and, hey, even if I did, you couldn't read it anyway), but the jist of it is this:

The Vikings' offer to the Chiefs for Jared Allen now consists of their #17 overall pick in the 2008 Draft, their #73 overall pick in the 2008 Draft, and a second-round selection in the 2009 Draft.

On the surface, all one can say is "wow."  Because, honestly, it looks like a lot at first glance.  But after a closer look, it really doesn't seem so terrible.  Consider this for a moment.

Our first round pick was, more than likely, going to be spent on a defensive end anyway.  If given the choice, who would you rather have. . .a proven commodity like Jared Allen?  Or a guy that "might" work out like Derrick Harvey or Phillip Merling?  Hell, how many first-round defensive ends has this team drafted since Chris Doleman was traded away with no real success?  If you need to be reminded, here's the list:

1995 - Derrick Alexander (11th overall)
1996 - Duane Clemons (16th overall)
1999 - Dimitrius Underwood (29th overall. . .and, hopefully, this will be the last time that that guy is ever mentioned on this site)
2004 - Kenechi Udeze (20th overall)
2005 - Erasmus James (18th overall)

Kevin Williams was drafted as a DE, but I really don't think we're going to count him.  Five times since the Vikings traded Chris Doleman to the Atlanta Falcons, they've drafted a DE in Round 1. . .and they've taken some shots in Round 2 as well with guys like Michael Borieau and Kailee Wong.

Take a good look at that list. . .include Borieau and Wong if you want.  Of those seven guys, the only one that can't be classified as total crap at this point is Udeze. . .and even he hasn't developed into quite the pass rush guy that the Vikings hoped he'd be when they drafted him out of USC.  Unfortunately, there's a chance that we'll never know if he could have developed into such a player. . .but I certainly hope we do.  (Get well soon, BKU!)

So, then, if the choice is between taking a risk on Derrick Harvey or Phillip Merling or acquiring one of the 4-5 best defensive ends in the NFL. . .I think the choice is pretty much a no-brainer.

The third rounder we're offering in the trade?  Hell, we stole that pick from Denver.  It's only right that we use it for something bigger.  Essentially, we trade away a pick that really wasn't ours to begin with.

And the second rounder in 2009?  Come on. . .how much value does the 32nd pick in the second round have, anyway?  (Okay. . .maybe as high as, say, 28th or so.)

So really, when it comes down to it, we'd be dealing next year's second round pick for Jared Allen.  Who could possibly have a problem with that?  That's the way I see it, anyway. . .as always, your mileage may vary.

This is the latest from Vikings Now, the St. Paul Pioneer Press blog, about the Allen situation.

The post goes on to say that Allen's agent is unsure whether or not his client will proceed with his scheduled visit to Tampa Bay early next week.

Now, I might be reading a little too much into this, but what that tells me is that the problem with this whole thing is not the Vikings coming to terms with Allen on a deal.  The problem appears to be coming from the Kansas City end of the equation, he said in a totally unbiased manner.

Okay, I'm not really unbiased.  But you knew that already.

However, Arrowhead Pride is reporting that Warpaint Illustrated, a Chiefs magazine, is reporting that the Vikings are no longer negotiating with Chiefs' general manager Carl Peterson.  Rather, they're now dealing with Chiefs' owner Clark Hunt.  Arrowhead Pride is also reporting that, based on what the folks at Warpaint Illustrated have told him, that Hunt's demands in a trade for Allen will be not only Minnesota's first and second round picks this season, but their second round pick NEXT season as well.

If that's the tact they're going to take, then at the risk of sounding a bit blunt, the Chiefs can go get bent.  If they don't want to play fair or play nice, then the consequences will be on them.

See, the more I think about it, the more it becomes apparent that the Chiefs don't care what sort of deal Allen signs with another team.  Allen's compensation, in the grand scheme of things, is rather meaningless.  This is all about what the Chiefs can put in THEIR pockets in a trade for their defensive end.  Kansas City doesn't care about how much salary cap space the Vikings have or the Buccaneers have or any other team that might want to acquire Allen has.  This is about Kansas City getting the best possible deal they can to start rebuilding their team. . .and frankly, that's understandable.

The humorous part comes from the folks at places like the Warpaint Illustrated forums and Arrowhead Addict that seem to be under the impression that the Chiefs are going to bend the Vikings over the proverbial table on a potential Allen trade.  To those people, I'll just say "sorry," because that's not happening.  To my knowledge, Mike Lynn has NOT been re-hired to be Minnesota's GM, so the odds of the Beloved Purple getting screwed over on a trade like this are pretty remote.

A lot of these folks also fail to take into consideration that Jared Allen, from all accounts, doesn't want to play in Kansas City any more because he hates Carl Peterson's guts.  Frankly, I can see where he's coming from. . .if the Chiefs were THAT interested in signing him long-term, they could have done so a long time ago OR put the "exclusive rights" franchise tag on him.  But they didn't.  Much the same as when the Seahawks put the transition tag on Steve Hutchinson (rather than the franchise tag) and the Vikings came in and signed him away, the Chiefs apparently didn't take the potential consequences of their actions seriously, and now they expect other teams to pay the price for their error in judgement.

Well, I can tell you that that team certainly won't be the Minnesota Vikings.  The Chiefs are a team in re-building mode. . .shoot, in the article from the Kansas City Star linked above, one of their own beat writers says himself that they need

They need players. . .they need lots of players. . .and if they're going to be competitive, they're going to need those players sooner rather than later.  So, basically, Carl Peterson or Clark Hunt or whoever is running things on the Chiefs' end now has a choice.  They can either accept the deal that the Vikings have on the table for them now. . .which, by all accounts, is more than fair. . .or they can wait, let the Vikings keep all of their picks from this year, let Minnesota sign Allen to an offer sheet that the Chiefs can't match, and take the picks when Minnesota is darn good and ready to give them up.

The bottom line is that the Chiefs will NOT be dictating anything to the Vikings in this situation.  They have a player that doesn't want to play for them any more and negotiating for his rights with a team that he and his agent have been very impressed by.  They don't hold nearly the leverage that they seem to think they do.

After all this, I still think that it's not a matter of "if" Jared Allen will be wearing purple and gold, but a matter of "when."

Oh, and going back to Allen's character again. . .here's another good story about that that was pointed out to me by "kennyrogers" in the comments section of Access Vikings.  My personal favorite part is this one:

To take a line from latter-day American philosopher Ace Ventura, it appears that Allen has EXORCIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISED THE DEMONS!!  Hey, if the Vikings don't appear to be worried about it, then why should I be?

That's all for now, folks. . .man, this weekend has flown by.  Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, and we'll see you back here if anything new develops.

Jared Allen will be leaving the Twin Cities, per NFL rules which say that a player can't spend more than 48 hours visiting a team.

OH MY GOD EVERYBODY PANIC!!!!

Or not.

Allen has a trip to Tampa Bay scheduled for early next week, and the Bucs and Vikings have been the only teams mentioned thus far that are in the running for Allen's services.  Frankly, I don't think the Bucs can offer nearly as good a deal to Allen as the Vikings can, nor can they offer the Chiefs the same level of compensation.  I'm not sure on the former, because I'm not sure how much cap room the Bucs currently have.

However, I am sure about the level of compensation that the Bucs can offer the Chiefs compared to what the Vikings can offer them.  Why?  Here are the picks that each team has in the upcoming draft:

So, as you can see, not only do the Vikings have more picks to draw from than the Buccaneers do, but all of their picks in every round are higher than what Tampa Bay has to offer.  Since the Chiefs seem to be insisting on picks in this year's draft, if the rumors are to be believed, this is a big selling point.

From reading various Chiefs sites around the internet, including our own Arrowhead Pride, it seems that Chiefs' general manager Carl Peterson is more popular than syphilis, but only marginally so.  If he were to somehow let Jared Allen go without getting a return in the 2008 Draft for him, then the public relations backlash could get a little messy for someone who, from all indications, really can't afford to deal with something like that.

But that, fortunately for the Vikings, is a card that they hold.  Lest you think that the Chiefs hold all the cards in this poker game, let me once again refer you to the folks at Pro Football Talk:

Basically, if Carl Peterson wants to play hardball with this, it's going to come back to bite him.  Even if he does get Minnesota's first-round selections in '09 and '10. . .if he screws up a deal for the team's best defensive player, he might not be around long enough to exercise those picks for the Chiefs.

Peterson has to know that not all of the onus to get this done falls on the Minnesota Vikings.  If the Vikings feel like it, they can select someone with the 17th pick in this year's draft at 7:00 PM on Saturday and sign Allen to a loaded offer sheet at 7:01.  He knows this. . .at least, I think he knows this.  And if the Vikings put a specific clause in the contract like. . .oh, I don't know. . ."player, if physically healthy, must play at least eight games a year in domed stadiums". . .then Peterson will just have to stand there and take it.  But he won't just be taking it from the Vikings. . .he'll be taking it from the Kansas City faithful, too.

(And if you think the "games played in domed stadiums" thing is outrageous, I find it to be no more so than Nate Burleson's "no more than five games a year in the state of Minnesota" clause from the battle with Seattle a couple years back.)

So please, nobody freak out over Jared Allen leaving the Twin Cities before a contract is done.  He's leaving because league rules mandate that he has to.  I have a feeling that he'll still be wearing the purple and gold before too much longer.  It might not be pretty, but I have a feeling that it will get done.

And with that, it's time to call it a night.  Have a good Sat. . .er, Sunday, ladies and gentlemen, and we'll be back bright and early tomorrow with any new developments, should any arise.

From their Rumor Mill tidbit about the ongoing discussions between the Vikings and the Chiefs concerning Jared Allen:

And you know something?  That idea is so damn crazy that it just. . .might. . .work.

I'd have to put a little more thought into the whole thing, but looking at it on the surface, I don't think I'd be completely opposed to this.  If the Chiefs don't want to come to terms on a deal, then we keep all our picks in this year's draft, load up on talent/depth, and sign Allen to a contract on Monday, 28 April after the draft is over.

Also, I'm sure that if a poison pill were to be inserted like there was in the Hutchinson contract a couple of years ago, the whining from the national media would be damn near unbearable for a while. . .but, like I said with the Hutchinson contract, Zygi Wilf isn't running a charity.  He's not putting together an update of "How to Make Friends and Influence People."  He's attempting to make his football team the best that it can be.  Getting Jared Allen onto this roster would be a huge step in making that happen.

What say you, folks?  If a deal isn't worked out prior to the draft, would you be adverse to that scenario?