Wednesday Open Thread: January 4, 2017

Merry Wednesday, everyone!

Alright, so we’re another day into our off-season, and it’s time to look ahead to what’s next. The next big decision we have looming on the horizon, and probably the biggest off-season decision the Vikings have, is the Adrian Peterson decision. The Vikings have until day 3 of the new league year to either extend or cut AD otherwise his $6 million roster bonus becomes guaranteed. I assume a decision will be made by then. We’ve discussed it quite a bit, and there are strong opinions on both sides, so let’s try to keep the discussion civil, but what do you think the Vikings will do? Personally, I’m not sure they can come to an agreement on how much AD is worth to the Vikings. He may surprise me and take a reasonable salary to stay here, and I hope he does, but I feel like the Vikings may wind up releasing him and allow him to test the free market.

If he does test the free market, how much will someone offer him? It’s easy to say he’s old and won’t get offered much, but he’s been a very successful player, and pretty much carried the Vikings to the playoffs in 2012, and to a lesser extent, last year. A struggling team may look at that and decide to offer him a large contract. If so, I’m afraid we may have seen the last of AD in a Vikings uniform. If not, maybe he comes back to the table later in the offseason and reaches an agreement with our favorite team. There are lots of possibilities, and we’ll find out in the next month whether he’ll hit free agency or not. It will be an interesting situation to monitor.

Around the DN since our last open thread:

Coach Zimmer said that Bradford has earned the right to start, per Chris.

Chris also reported that the Vikings signed ten players to futures contracts.

Wludford is doing year-end evaluations of the Vikings, and here’s part I, the overview.

Vikings news from other sources:

From the Strib, Laquon Treadwell called his rookie year disappointing.

From Vikings.com:

Coach Zimmer addressed the media yesterday.

Here’s a cool video showing how Thielen and Hunter are evolving into game changers.

Wobby takes a look ahead at the Vikings’ 2017 offseason.

Around the rest of the NFL:

From NFL.com, the Jets announced Chan Gailey’s retirement.

The Raiders are expected to start QB Connor Cook vs. the Texans, per NFL.com.

We come to today’s media selection.

Hey man, I like The Stray Cats, so here you go. Let’s rock this town!

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.