Monday Open Thread: February 27, 2017

Happy Monday, everyone!

I hope everyone had a great weekend, the weather’s been cold, but you know spring is lurking somewhere, just waiting to grace us with her presence. I can’t wait, I’m itching to do some real fishing again and watch some baseball.

Here's a full schedule of the combine, from SI.com:

Feb. 28: Day one players arrive: Place kicking, special teams, offensive linemen, running backs.

March 1: Day two players arrive: Quarterbacks, wide receivers, tight ends.

March 2: Day three players arrive: Defensive line and linebackers.

March 3: Day four players arrive: Defensive backs. Also, day one players begin workouts.

March 4. Day two players begin workouts.

March 5. Day three players begin workouts.

March 6: Day four players begin workouts.

Here’s a schedule of upcoming key dates, also from SI.com:

February 28 - March 6: NFL Scouting Combine

March 1 (4:00 PM ET): Deadline for teams to designate Franchise or Transition players.

March 7 - March 9: NFL teams may begin contract negotiations with the agents of players who will become Unrestricted Free Agents.

March 9 (Before 4:00PM ET):

Deadline for NFL teams to exercise options for 2017 on any player with option clauses in their 2016 contracts.

NFL teams must submit qualifying offers to players with expiring contracts who will become Restricted Free Agents.

NFL teams must submit a Minimum Salary Tender to players who will become Exclusive-Rights Free Agents (expiring contracts and fewer than 3 accrued seasons).

March 9 (After 4:00PM ET): 2017 NFL league year begins, all 2016 contracts expire.

Around the DN since our last open thread:

Rickspeak is back! Ted brought us the pre-combine edition.

Chris filled us in on the latest Vikings draft pick update, although there is still a coin toss involved, so some picks aren’t final.....yet.

Chris also took a look at Walter Football’s mock drafts for the Vikings.

How much will the top free agent offensive linemen cost? Chris dives in & looks.

There’s an upcoming documentary, and they’re looking for stories from fans.

Vikings news from elsewhere:

Matt Vensel at the Star Tribune has a cool piece on Rick Spielman and his plan to help the team bounce back from last year.

From ESPN, Adrian Peterson’s dad says the Vikings should try to keep his son.

From Vikings.com, Tom Pelissory discussed possible scenarios with Adrian Peterson, and he also discussed the development of Laquon Treadwell.

Around the rest of the league:

The Ravens’ Matt Elam was arrested in Florida, and the team has said that Elam is not in their plans for 2017, per NFL.com.

The Jets have released center Nick Mangold, also from NFL.com. There’s another interesting option for Minnesota to consider.

We come to today’s media selection.

I drove back from Billings yesterday, so I had Mr. Yoakum, among others, to keep me company. Here you go.

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

-No discussion of politics or religion
-No feeding of the trolls
-This isn't a male version of The View, so leave the gender hatred at the door
-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 get someone fired or in serious trouble with their employer
-If you can't disagree in a civil manner, feel free to go away
-While navigating the open thread, just assume it's sarcasm

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 chitlins.