So how about that fast and furious opening day of free agency by our beloved Minnesota Vikings?!
OK, so re-signing the likes of Letroy Guion and Sage Rosenfels probably isn't what most fans had in mind, especially while other teams pulled out their wallets like a high-roller bachelor party at Spearmint Rhino. And the only new news today is that the Vikings are close to signing tight end John Carlson.
EDIT 1:00 PM: It's already all over the comments of this thread, but it's official. The Vikings have signed Carlson to a 5 year/$25 million deal with $11 million guaranteed.
It's definitely understandable that many fans are asking questions like:
- "OMG WTF ARE THE VIKINGS DOING?! WE WENT 3-13 LAST YEAR AND WE'RE JUST SITTING AROUND DOING NOTHING WHILE ALL THESE AWESOME PLAYERS ARE GETTING SIGNED BY OTHER TEAMS!"
- "DOES RICK SPIELMAN KNOW THAT FREE AGENCY STARTED?!"
- "WE HAVE CAP ROOM! WHY THE F#*& AREN'T WE USING IT?!? WHY DID WE CUT HUTCH, GRIFFIN, AND HERRERA IF WE AREN'T ACTUALLY GOING TO SPEND THE MONEY?!"
- "WHY DO I CHEER FOR THIS TEAM?!"
As for the last question, I'm not sure I can help you there. But for the first few, I can assure you that yes, Rick Spielman does actually have a plan. While grabbing headlines and making big, splashy signings is always a great PR move, the Vikings front office also realizes that signing one or two big-name, big-money players isn't going to magically launch this team into contention.
Every single Vikings beat reporter repeated the mantra over and over: Spielman & company are indeed active despite the lack of news coming from Winter Park. But they're much more excited about building through the ten draft picks the Vikings have in April than filling holes in free agency.
It's true that some great targets came off the board yesterday. But would you honestly be OK with paying Cortland Finnegan $50 million? Or $42.5 million for Pierre Garcon? Or even $55 million for oft-injured Vincent Jackson? (OK I could probably get talked into V-Jax, but the other two were definitely overpaid.)
I read a great Tweet today that said "the first day of free agency is like shopping at Neimann Marcus; after that it's like shopping at Target." And that's probably true. But I know that my house and closet have a LOT more stuff from Target than from the ritzy stores. And that's what Rick Spielman is (hopefully) doing. He's building his house with affordable, practical pieces instead of hanging a chandelier in the middle of a trailer home.
That said, this is a free agency open thread. EVERYBODY PANIC!!!