Tuesday Open Thread: January 3, 2017

Merry Tuesday, everyone!

Well, it’s day two of the Vikings’ off-season, only a little over 7 months to go until our first preseason game.........sigh. Despite the crappy way the season turned out, I’m still very high on this team. I think we have a very good coaching staff, a solid nucleus of players to build around, and a front office who can address problems. I know Rick gets a lot of flack, but I think he can get our O line situation fixed this off-season. If he does, I think we’re a contender next year, I have no doubt.

I said this yesterday, but I’ll mention it again since a lot of folks were off work & weren’t here, but a million thanks to Supa & Cane Chuck for the hospitality on Sunday. I had a blast, as always. It was really nice meeting Fil & his lovely wife, and I look forward to seeing them again in the future. Kodiak was a cool cat as well, and I hope to get up to his neck of the woods to do some hunting & fishing sometime soon. For those of you who haven’t taken in the tailgating experience, I highly recommend it. Supa introduced me to it a few years ago & I’ve been hooked ever since.

Around the DN since our last open thread:

Chris posted the 2017 NFL playoff schedule.

Chris also looked at the 2017 NFL Draft order and where the Vikings will select.

Here’s a clarification of Minnesota’s two additional draft picks, from Chris. In case you haven’t noticed, Chris does a ton of work to keep us all up to speed on the goings-on with the Vikings, I hope everyone appreciates all he does, because he does a lot.

Vikings news from other sources:

From ESPN, Adrian Peterson wants to return to Minnesota.

From Vikings.com:

Here is a video of the best of the sounds from move out day.

Adrian Peterson addressed the media yesterday.

The following players chatted with reporters & here are their interviews. Laquon Treadwell says he has to come back ready, Brian Robison addressed his contract & watching Hunter take over his starting position (Robison is truly a class act), Alex Boone says it’s a frustrating, maddening game, Harrison Smith says lots of teams can say they’re one win away, Stefon Diggs says he’s going to be better, Captain Munnerlyn hopes to be back next year, and Jerick McKinnon says it’d be weird for everyone if Adrian left.

The Vikes are unsatisfied with their 8-8 season, per Eric Smith.

Lindsey Young reflects back on 10 Vikings seasons of Adrian Peterson at RB.

The Vikings signed 9 practice squad players to futures contracts.

Wobby opened the Monday Morning Mailbag.

Around the rest of the NFL:

From Yahoo Sports, Jason La Canfora talks the NFL coaching carousel.

CBS Sports has an NFL coach/GM changes tracker.

From NFL.com, the Falcons OC, Kyle Shanahan, is to interview for four teams’ head coaching positions.

AJ McCarron says he wouldn’t be distraught if he were traded out of Cincinnati, per NFL.com.

We come to today’s media selection.

Well, we have a LONG wait until the next Vikings game, & as we all know, the waiting is the hardest part. Wouldn’t you agree?

Again, we all know the rules, but in case someone is new:

-No discussion of politics or religion
-No feeding of the trolls
-Keep the bad language to a minimum (using the spoiler tags, if you must)
-Speaking of which, if discussing a newer show or movie, please use spoiler tags
-No pictures that could potentially get someone fired or in serious trouble at their place of employment
-If you can't disagree in a civil manner, feel free to go away
-While navigating the open thread, just assume it's sarcasm
-This isn't a male version of The View, so leave the gender hatred at the door

With that, the beer light is on and the bar is open. Belly up & tie one on. Don't forget to tip your waitress, & try the headcheese.