Vikings Free Agency 2012: Steve Hutchinson Among Those Who Could Walk

Recently released Minnesota Vikings guard Steve Hutchinson is free to sign with any team and is drawing some interest already. Hutchinson is set to visit the Tennessee Titans, according to Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter of ESPN.

But Hutchinson was on the Titans' radar even before the Manning pursuit began, as they want to beef up the interior line with a veteran leader. Hutchinson is close to Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, as well, from their days together in Seattle.

The Titans do need some help on the offensive line, but there is risk bringing in a 34-year-old offensive lineman who's coming off an injury after missing the last five games of the 2010 season and being on injured reserve for the entire 2011 season. It's unlikely Hutchinson will get a big deal and the Titans will certainly need to check out his health, but he can provide a boost to their offensive line in the short-term.

For more free agency updates, go to SB Nation's Titans blog, Music City Miracles.

The Minnesota Vikings surprised many by selecting Christian Ponder in the first round of the 2011 NFL draft, but the team seems dead set on Ponder as their quarterback of the future. The Vikings only won three games in 2011 and things could be scary in 2012 as the team's biggest weapon, running back Adrian Peterson, is recovering from knee surgery and there aren't many good receiving options for Ponder to consider other than Percy Harvin.

When it comes to players that are likely to leave, long-time Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe and linebacker E.J. Henderson are likely packing their bags. The Vikings don't have a ton of money to spend so they will probably let these players walk instead of overpay to re-sign them. As far as bringing players in, the Vikings have plenty of needs on both sides of the ball so it will be interesting to see what they decide to do.

The Vikings need to give Ponder the weapons necessary for him to succeed. The only consistently good wide receiver is Percy Harvin and that's when he's not struggling with migraine issues. Tight end Kyle Rudolph will likely get the starting job this season but Ponder still needs wide receivers. Guys like Mario Manningham, Pierre Garcon or Vincent Jackson could be options. The team also needs help in the secondary, which means guys like Brandon Carr could targeted at cornerback or Reggie Nelson could be targeted at safety.

For more free agency updates, go to SB Nation's Vikings blog, Daily Norseman.

After a 3-13 season in which they were not particularly good on offense (18th in yards per game) or defense (21st in yards allowed per game), it should probably come as little surprise that the Minnesota Vikings are reportedly not going to use their Franchise Tag on any player. The Vikings head into the 2012 offseason with 18 free agents of some kind.

No surprise here, but I'm told #Vikings have no plans to franchise tag one of their in-house free agents.

— Pioneer Press (@VikingsNow) February 21, 2012

Truth be told, there weren't a lot of very good candidates anyway. There certainly weren't any impending free agents who would be worth guaranteeing a salary that is equivalent to the average of the top 5 paid players at any given position. The best candidates were probably linebackers E.J. Henderson and Erin Henderson. But even their combined total of 179 tackles is not all that high for players at their positions.

For all the latest on NFL free agency, visit SB Nation's hub page.

The Minnesota Vikings are in the midst of a youth movement, and veteran offensive guard Steve Hutchinson could be a victim of that movement. Hutchinson is due $6.95 million for the 2012 season in the final year of the seven-year deal he signed with the Vikings in free agency, but the lineman could be released before the start of free agency, according to a report by the Associated Press.

"I know what the cap situation is and all that, but it's out of my control," the 35-year old Hutchinson told the AP in a phone interview. "Any player has to worry about that in the NFL."

Hutchinson started 131 consecutive games with the Vikings before missing his first game with a broken thumb in the 2010 season. Hutchinson hasn't made the Pro Bowl in two seasons, and his play has started to decline. It's possible the Vikings could bring Hutchinson back at a much lower salary, but as it stands right now, the feel is that he will be a cap casualty.

For more on Steve Hutchinson and the Vikings offseason, head over to the SB Nation blog Daily Norseman.