Well, we're getting to the point of the NFL season where bad teams start getting rumored to be sending players to other teams in an effort to get their rebuilding process started earlier than normal. With the Vikings being 1-3 this year, they're no exception.
The big rumor that has apparently been circulating is that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have inquired as to the availability of RB/PR Mewelde Moore in light of the injury to Cadillac Williams. After the first four games of the season, it's obvious that the Vikings don't have much use for #30, having deactivated him in two of the season's first four games, including last week's game against Green Bay.
Now, Mewelde is a free agent at the end of the season, and in light of his current usage (or lack thereof), you'd have to think that the chances of him coming back to Minnesota next season are pretty remote. So, part of me wants to say "Hey, get whatever you can get for the guy before you lose him for nothing." However, if Murphy's Law and a quarter century of watching Vikings' football has taught me anything, it's that a week after we trade Moore (or possibly even Chester Taylor) anywhere, we'll suffer a rash of injuries at the running back position and I'll be writing articles about "featured running back Naufahu Tahi."
The new poll on the right there details the possibility of dealing from one of the Vikings' positions of strength. I'm not sure what we'd get for either player, although you'd have to think that Taylor would command a higher price. . .he's, quite frankly, a better running back than Moore, not to mention signed for a longer period of time and is less injury-prone than Mewelde has been over his career.
Rumor has it that the Bucs have offered a sixth-round draft pick for Moore. While that would replace the pick we sent to the New York Jets in the deal that brought us Brooks Bollinger, I don't think that's a high enough price for Moore at this point. Mewelde Moore isn't the second coming of Barry Sanders or anything, but he's worth more than a sixth-round pick, I think. The guy pretty much produces when he's on the field, so there's no reason to just give him away.