Hit the link for the Strib's full report on today's court ruling, but in a nutshell, there's reason to celebrate: The Williams Wall just moved one step closer to playing the complete 2009 season:

Minnesota Vikings Kevin and Pat Williams can play the entire season unless a federal court claims jurisdiction over their lawsuit challenging the NFL's drug-testing procedures, Hennepin County District Court Judge Gary Larson ruled this morning.

Larson stayed action in his courtroom until the U.S. District Court determines whether it has jurisdiction on some of the players' claims.

August 18th is the new big day for the Williams Wall -- that's when federal appeals court will hear oral arguments in the case. If Pat and Kevin get through that final obstacle, and the case heads back to state court, the thing will be put on hold until after the season has reached a conclusion. So they'd be available for the full season.

Minnesota state law prohibits employers from imposing a punishment on employees for a single positive drug test.  Therefore, the Williamses argue that their suspension isn't permitted by state law.  In order for the Williamses to be suspended, the federal appeals court would need to reverse the ruling of Judge Paul Magnuson -- who referred Pat and Kevin's claim that the NFL violated that law to state court.

It's a confusing story, but here's the bottom line.  If federal appeals court decides it doesn't have jurisdiction over the remaining claims by the Williams Wall, they're home free -- for at least the 2009 season.  If the opposite occurs in federal appeals court and it reverses Magnuson's ruling, the suspension will go on after all.

Tarvaris Jackson tripped over defensive tackle Letroy Guion during a drill this morning and was attended to on the field for several minutes before exiting the field under his own power.

We have yet to receive official word on the extent of his injury, but a source told Pro Football Talk that Jackson suffered a grade I MCL sprain.  I found this page through a quick Google search, which states that most athletes with grade I sprains miss 1-2 weeks of play.  If T-Jack's injury is more serious, he would likely miss several weeks.

Either way, this is very disappointing news -- we're not even two days into the quarterback competition and one of the guys has already been sidelined on a day-to-day basis, at the very least.

Guion couldn't explain what on earth happened:

"We were just in the heat of the moment," Guion said. "I really don’t know what happened. Everything was moving so fast I don’t know what happened."

Needless to say, the guys were not supposed to make contact with T-Jack during this drill so something obviously went very wrong.  And as a result, the quarterback competition has stumbled out of the gate.

Today's ruling by a U.S. District Court judge that Riddell Inc. should have warned Korey Stringer that its helmets and shoulder pads could contribute to heat stroke has sparked an interesting debate.

Obviously, let's start by saying that what happened to Korey was absolutely tragic.  It remains an important reminder of the dangers of heat stroke.  But does that mean Riddell Inc. is legally culpable for his death?  That's the question a jury will tackle this November, and it's one that has provoked some strong opinions.

As I read through the comments about this story on ESPN, I saw overwhelming criticism of the judge's ruling.  One commenter asked if he should sue fire because he touched it once, and it didn't warn him it could burn him.  Really, what that's getting at is this: Is it reasonable to expect Riddell Inc. to warn its customers of the dangers of wearing heavy equipment in hot weather?  Or should people be expected to reach that conclusion on their own?

I think we need to ask the question of whether a warning label on the equipment would have somehow avoided the tragedy, because that's essentially the issue being debated here.  I personally believe it's difficult to honestly make the assertion that a warning would have done much good -- because common sense should tell you that heavy equipment in hot weather could lead to some problems.  Duh.

Indeed, if someone is wearing heavy equipment during a hot day, I think any reasonable person would conclude that his or her chance of heat stroke will increase.  It just seems like a no-brainer to me.  If you need a warning label on the equipment to become aware of that fact, you have highly questionable judgment.

Nevertheless, warning labels are assuredly on their way to helmets and padding.  For the same reason that the label "Caution: Hot beverages are hot!" appeared on a cup of coffee I bought the other day.

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.