Brought to you by Mr. Cheer or Die and the Vikes Geek, welcome to the
Views and Personal Photos on the Vikes from the Inaugural Hall of Fame fan.
Brought to you by Mr. Cheer or Die and the Vikes Geek, welcome to the
Wow! The Vikings could be working their way back to dominant offensive line, one not seen in these parts since the 1998 season when Jeff Christy, Todd Steussie, and Randall McDaniel were named to the Pro Bowl. It is now being reported that the Vikings have signed Seahawks guard Steve Hutchinson to an offer sheet of mammoth proportions.
But before you start to scream and holler like a little girl at her first prom, keep this in mind: the Seahawks have a little thing called a transition tag on Hutchinson, giving them the right to match the Vikings offer. The ‘Hawks and the Triple Chin (Mike Holmgren) have a week to determine if they want to retain the services of the most highly sought offensive lineman on the market today. If they choose not to match, they receive no compensation.
Holy Red McCombs! I had concentrated on LeCharles Bentley as I thought the Vikes could not make a play for Hutchinson as the money would be too great. This move alone should signal that our new owner, Zygi Wilf, is going to spend the money necessary to bring a championship to Minnesota. I mean, think of this new look offensive line next season. If the Vikings can actually get Hutch in Purple, he'll land between Matt Birk and Bryant McKinnie. McKinnie came on like a ton of bricks last season and should have been voted into the Pro Bowl. Birk should be back at full strength following his 95th hernia operation.
The huge offer the Vikes laid on the table is most likely designed at discouraging the Seahawks from matching. Keep your fingers crossed!
From the numbers being reported, the Vikings have gotten his settlement on an offer sheet with a 2006 cap number in excess of $13 million. Using my trusty Texas Instruments calculator, that's more than one third of the team's existing cap space in the 2006 off-season, and more than twelve percent of the team's total cap room for the existing year.
In a related note, if the Vikes do win and Hutchinson is introduced the media as the newest Viking, look for the team to finally release the Poutin’ Quarterback the First to loosen up a little more bling-bling.
It is an excellent offer sheet, and I certainly support the Vikes' trying to overpay for the OL, but I suspect Seattle can match without too much pain. They are $17m under the cap now and can restructure Hassleback and Jones' deals if they need to to free up more cap room. So the question is simply will they pay the $49m, not can they. Whichever they do I hope they do it soon so the Vikes' can move onto their plan B if needed.
Posted by: Lou Wainwright at March 12, 2006 7:07 PMThere isn't much incentive for the Hawks to announce their intentions early. I'm sure they are none too pleased at the price they will be forced to pay and not anxious to do the Vikings any favors helping them move forward with plan b. Hopefully they fold... but we won't know till Sunday I expect.
Posted by: Erisa at March 12, 2006 7:21 PMBoy that is a lot to pay. There must really be no other "economical" options. Don't get me wrong, as a Michigan alum, I have always been a huge Hutchinson fan and would love to see him on the left side of the line.
I would not expect them to match (can they afford to match?), He is 1/3 of the Vikes cap, I can just imagine what a hit Seattle would take, and they just signed Shaun Alexander. That extra 7 + mill has inflated everything and no doubt caused the tender to much higher.
Posted by: J. Lichty at March 13, 2006 9:00 AM