Tuesday Open Thread: September 4, 2018

A very merry Monday Tuesday to all of you!

I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend. Well, those of you who had yesterday off, anyway. Thanks to Rob for posting yesterday’s thread, kiddo woke me up early and he had a full agenda of important things to do, so I was busy and didn’t even think to log on & post the thread until about 8:00, and it was already posted. Lots of comments, I didn’t know that so many of you had to work yesterday.

There was a couple of fairly big news items in Vikings land over the weekend. One was expected by most fans, and the other was maybe a bit of a surprise, and I’d like to see the effect that the two moves had on the average age of the Vikings roster.

The first bit of news was that Brian Robison was released by the Vikings, which didn’t surprise anyone a whole lot. It sucks that it had to happen, because Robison has been a tremendous player and teammate in his career as a Viking, which lasted from draft day in 2007 until Saturday. The thing is, he was still playing at a high level, and if the team wasn’t so loaded at D line, I’m relatively certain he’d still be a Viking. But, the fact is that they are loaded at D line, and they have some very talented young players waiting for their shot. Cutting young guys who could be the next Everson Griffen would be unwise when you have another option, so the decision to cut Robison, although difficult and unpleasant, was also the correct decision. All the best to Robison as he moves to either his next team, or to the next chapter in his life (which would involve a LOT of bass fishing). He’s been a hell of a Viking and a class act in his career here.

The other bit of news was that Terence Newman, the ageless wonder, announced that he decided to retire. He didn’t retire from the NFL, though. No, he didn’t even retire from the Minnesota Vikings. He just decided to hang up the cleats, go buy some ugly shorts and a clipboard, and make a change from being a player to being a coach. He’ll be the Vikings’ new Nickel/Defensive Backs Coach. Most players retire due to their skills diminishing to the point where they’re forced to retire, and I’m not sure that was ever going to happen with Newman, so I guess he just figured now was a good time. There was another rumor that the NFL was going to force the team to use 2 roster spots for Newman, since he’s almost twice the age of a lot of the players. Well, that wasn’t really a rumor, I just made it up, but close enough. Welcome, Coach Newman!

Around the DN since our last open thread:

The Vikings filled out their practice squad roster by signing Cole Hikutini, a tight end who was with the 49ers last year.

Skelly10 has the full story of Terence Newman’s retirement/career move/position change/whateveryouwanttocallit.

Vikings news from other sources and news from around the rest of the league:

At Vikings.com, Coach Zimmer talks about the decisions with Newman and Robison, among other subjects, in his Monday press conference, hear Terence Coach Newman talk with the media as well, and there is a ton of weekend traffic to sift through in the media vault.

Ben Goessling and Andrew Krammer at the Strib look to the regular season after the final roster cuts were made.

NFL.com has reactions from Carr, Gruden, and other Raiders to the Khalil Mack trade. Mack was traded to the Bears, and almost immediately signed a six-year $141 million deal with his new team. That is a LOT of cash for a linebacker, wow (I know he’s not exactly a linebacker, but don’t bother me with technicalities).

We come to today’s media selection:

How about a Vikings hype video to kick off the work week? Enjoy!

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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 and tie one on. Don’t forget to tip your waitress, and try the blood sausage