Minnesota Vikings News and Links: March 12, 2019

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Well, free agency activity was officially allowed to begin yesterday at 3:00, and teams wasted no time. They must negotiate very efficiently, because it wasn’t much past 3:00, and the deals were being announced, and we all know that they’d never negotiate before the legal tampering period began. I still think it’s dumb that they have this goofy ‘legal tampering’ deadline where players and teams are technically not supposed to negotiate or even interview until this magical time arrives. They are under contract and must remain with their team until March, because players do a lot of important things for their current team in February.

This is the same NFL organization who, at the end of a regular season, will allow a team who missed the playoffs, and whose season is over, to speak with, and even sign, a coach or coordinator from a team who is still in the playoffs, and whose season is not over. So, it’s perfectly fine to pull him away from his job for a couple days so another team can wine & dine him, and convince him to ditch the losers over at that other team and come work for them next season. It’s okay that his current employer kinda would like him to be doing the job he’s currently being paid to do, as playoff games are kinda important, and he has only 6 days to prepare for their next game. Six days isn’t really enough time to fully prepare, so four should be plenty. “Yeah, go ahead and take two days off this week, Bill. It’s only a playoff game, it isn’t like the season is over if we get beat or something like that. You go ahead and fly over there and have a good time at Sizzler. We’re confident that if you have that head coaching gig locked down & you sign an offer, it won’t affect your concentration on doing your duties here, and it shouldn’t have a negative effect on the guys in the locker room when you tell them that you’re jumping ship during the middle of the playoffs. That should really give them a sense of dedication, and laying it all out for the team.”

Goofballs. There is no logic in this place.

Around the DN since our last open thread:

Ted shared the rumblings that multiple teams have called the Vikings to see if the team is interested in trading Xavier Rhodes and/or Trae Waynes.

The Vikings did make some early free agency moves. They released Mike Remmers, after having approached him about restructuring his contract, per Chris. He must have said no?

Ted shared the not-unexpected news that the Vikes tendered Anthony Harris and Rashod Hill. What? No, Rick didn’t beat on them with a meat hammer. He signed them both to one-year deals. Harris’ deal includes a second round tender, and Hill’s contains a right-of-first-refusal tender.

The Vikings also added Shamar Stephen to the roster.....again, after Stephens made the Vikings player’s routine tour of duty with the Seahawks.

Anthony Barr was inked to a contract!.....by the Jets, per Chris.

Ted is maintaining a free agency open thread. I’m sure everyone will remain calm, won’t over-react, and will all get along fine.

Vikings news from elsewhere and news from around the league:

At Vikings.com, they have a tracker where you can keep up on all the latest Vikings free agency moves.

NBC Sports has a live update where you can get your NFL free agency news as it happens.

Some highlights from day one: The Redskins signed former Giants safety, Landon Collins, to a 6 year deal reportedly totaling $84 million, per ESPN. Collins is 25, but coming off an injury, as he missed the final four games of last season with a torn labrum. Also, the Jaguars signed Nick Foles to a four-year deal, $88 million deal, per SI.com. Early reports say the deal contains $50 million in guarantees, and has escalators that could increase the total from $88 million to $102 million.

We come to today’s media selection:

I’m sure this year’s free agency will be no different than usual, gotta’ love it.

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 hyperbole.