Last week there was an account I wanted to write about but my trip to New Jersey got in the way. The Vikings placed their transition player tag on cornerback Brian Williams. And I think that spoke volumes.

The transition tag gives the team the capacity to match any offer Williams might obtain on the free agent market. But Williams does not want to return to Minnesota, according to his agent, and he would be discontented if the Vikings hold him back.

"[Williams] would like to move on," agent Jordan Feagan said. "He's expressed to them that he would rather not go back."

Williams' contract expires this week and he is entitled for unrestricted free agency. By making him their transition player, the Vikings fundamentally offered him a one-year, $4.774 million guaranteed contract that he can sign at any time.

I think this was significant news because Williams played so well when Fred Smoot went down (injury, not Love Boat) last season. I also think that Williams is viable enough to play both corner and strong safety. I really do. (Especially if my man Willie Offord is not resignd). And since the Vikings are expected to have a new strong safety next season with Corey Chavous almost certain to depart in free agency why not make a play to keep Williams?

But besides the dual aspect of a role with the Vikings, I'm more worried about what could happen should Williams depart. We would be stuck with Smoot lining up on the other side of the defensive backfield opposite Antonio Winfield.

Certainly, Smoot had an appalling year and is most likely not as bad a player as he showed last year......with some saying that Smoot showed more off the field than he did on. And certainly Williams may not be as good as he showed when one thinks about the 2004 season when Williams was giving up more big plays than the Minnesota Lottery.

What do you think? Should the Vikings, projected to be $20 million under the slary cap, make a huge play to retain Williams? Who do you want starting at CB next season. Vote below.

Zygi Approval Poll

As many of the readers of the VU know, I ran a Tice Approval Poll all season long. Ol' Pencil Ear ended up hovering around the 46% approval mark by and large for the season. The poll seemed to be well received and a lot of merriment for everyone, so I decided to continue it, but change the targeted person to new owner Zygi Wilf.

Each month, you will have the chance to vote on Wilf's approval rating. The final number in January was an astounding 94% approval rating for the new owner. The February number dropped a hair to 88% approval. Zygi is on a roll!

The March Approval Poll is now up and you can vote just to the left.

What do you think of those numbers? Warranted? Have a comment? Leave one at the end of this entry and don't forget to vote in the March poll!

New Poll

Posted just below the March Zygi Approval Poll is a new poll on which potential new stadium deserves to approved by the Minnesota Legislature and then built. This is for pure fun. I hope both professional teams can get new stadiums approved and ground broken this year!

As always, for the latest on local stadium news and how the legisilative vote is shaping up look no further than the Greet Machine. And as of today, the Minnesota Legislature is in session!

More from Google Earth

It seemed that many of you enjoyed guessing the Google Earth stadium shots I posted Tuesday. So here are four more. These are much more challenging. One is very tricky. See if you can name the NFL teams that play in the stadiums. First one that guesses them all correctly via e-mail to me will get his or her name mentioned (hey, I can't cough up any dough right now). No clues either. You should be able to get two without much thought but some may give you trouble....unless you live there!

UPDATE: We already have a winner! Peter Deusterman correctly guessed all four stadiums at 8:20 AM CST! Congrats Peter! The rest of you will have to keep working at it.

Stadium Shot One

Stadium Shot Two

Stadium Shot Three

Stadium Shot Four

VU Housekeeping

For the regular readers, I have completed some changes to the left and right frames and just wanted to walk through those in case you can't locate links.

The Podcast and Videocast links have been moved from the left frame to the right. Added to the right frame are a Creative Copyright License and my Blog's Networth ($24,275.22....don't ask me how they arrive at that number!).

New to the left frame are Quotes about the VU from various media outlets. I hope to add additional quotes as they come in. Below that is Purple News which is a RSS News service that supposedly will pull together only Vikings storys as they come in. That way, you can just use the VU as your central clearing house for direct links to other Vikings related news.

And just to remind everyone about Flickr, the new photo service I will be experimenting with to bring you my personal photos of the Vikings. Currently, I have over eighty photos posted from last year's Mini-Camp. How is everyone liking that? I will post more if people are enjoying reviewing the photos. I hope to use this for posting new photos in 2006 from mini-camp and such. Just provide me with feedback (positive or negative) on the Flickr setup thus far.

And yes, I have been in contact with Winter Park on several fronts. I hope to have some additional news and interviews soon. But please realize they are entering the crazy period of Free Agency, preparing for the Draft Party and the NFL draft, and even training camp. Winter Park never sleeps.

Come back Thursday when I'll have the latest from former coach Bud Grant and Minnesota Momentum, the guiding forces behind the big push for a new Vikings stadium. They are going all out. I'll have the new TV ad to share along with a memo from Grant. Wow! I don't see the Twins putting in this much effort!

Posted by maasx003 at March 1, 2006 01:14 AM