AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED! AP has RENEWED!

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In an effort to comply with the NFL’s roster requirements, the Vikings have waived the following players:

DB Chris Adingupu,

OL Conan Amituanai,

TE Ed Barham,

QB Rhett Bomar,

DB Simeon Castille,

LB Jonathan Gilmore,

WR Andre Holmes,

LB Kyle O’Donnell,

K Nate Whitaker and

DT Colby Whitlock.

The Vikings now have 80 players on the roster and the NFL requires teams to be at 53 players by September 4.

Sad day for these players, but as we approach the final roster this team is looking good.

The Vikings have reportedly signed the CFL B.C. Lions wide receiver Emmanuel Arcenaux, a 23 years old former Alcorn State player.

http://yfrog.com/h0ikoukj

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So, it's finally the draft week.

Hence, I decided to do one last mock, mixing my wishes with possible picks (the ones Childress and Spielman don't have a red flag on).

This time I decided to back down on all the trades I've made in my last mock, keeping it simpler and more realistic.

So, here it is:

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We are a WIN NOW team, right ?

So what would you think if we signed Mawae ?

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And we finally have movement around Winter Park again.

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Vikings middle linebacker and defensive captain E.J. Henderson spoke publicly Tuesday for the first time since suffering a fractured femur in his left leg against Arizona last Dec. 6.

The injury was gruesome and raised questions about whether Henderson will be able to play again. He didn't hesitate when asked that question Tuesday.

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The former Iowa standout is a leading candidate after LaDainian Tomlinson joined the Jets.

Albert Young said he tried to ignore all the media attention focused on the Vikings' pursuit of LaDainian Tomlinson last week, but he kept getting reminders on his Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Tomlinson's decision would directly affect Young, the team's backup to star running back Adrian Peterson.

"I really didn't have a feeling either way about it," Young said. "That's something that's out of my control. ... The fact is, he's not there. Who knows, they might bring in somebody else. They might draft somebody. I just look at it as a void that's there and somebody needs to take it, and I'm working hard to do that."

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Jimmy Kennedy wanted to start, but he wanted the best deal possible more.

The Vikings re-signed the defensive tackle Saturday to a two-year contract worth a maximum of $6 million, according to NFL Network's Jason La Canfora. 

Kennedy will continue his role as a rotational reserve behind Pat and Kevin Williams, and will be available to start should his teammates get suspended to open 2010.  Williams visited Buffalo Friday.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/03/13/jimmy-kennedy-returns-to-vikings/

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Will they sign him? You can bet that question wafted through minds all across the nation when word leaked that former all-pro running back LaDainian Tomlinson was expected to visit the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday. As for the answer, I tried getting it today from Vikings coach Brad Childress, who was attending Pro Day at the University of Minnesota to eyeball prospective NFL draft picks.

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Wide receiver Greg Lewis will return to the Vikings.

Lewis, who was due to become an unrestricted free agent, has agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the team. Lewis joined the Vikings just before the regular-season began after Bobby Wade was released. Lewis had previously been with the Eagles and Patriots.

Lewis, 30,  appeared in 13 games for the Vikings and caught eight passes for 96 yards with a touchdown. He also played on special teams. The seven-year veteran made one of the Vikings' most memorable plays of the season in the third game when he made a spectacular grab on Brett Favre's last-second touchdown pass to lift the Vikings over San Francisco.

That leaves the Vikings with four pending unrestricted free agents. The list includes defensive tackle Jimmy Kennedy; cornerback Benny Sapp; offensive lineman Artis Hicks; and running back Chester Taylor. The Vikings have met with the representatives for all of their free agents at the combine.

After reading a lot of interesting comments here on the Daily Norseman about how we should approach this offseason, I've decided to give it a try as a Vikings' GM, mocking Free Agency, Trades and the Draft.

All of this moves are based considering Favre will return.

Please comment on what you think are the positives and negatives of each of those and grade this offseason.

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Post from www.blog.vikings.com

Vikings Vice President of Player Personnel Rick Spielman sat down with Vikings beat writers on Thursday after appearing on SIRIUS Satellite Radio, an annual tradition of his at the NFL Scouting Combine. Much was discussed during the sitdown and we’ll have plenty more updates throughout the next couple of days, but I wanted to quickly mention that Spielman was asked several questions about the Vikings strategy in free agency.

Teams are not allowed to talk to players who will become free agents on March 5 because they are still under contract with another team. But the Vikings are free to speak with their own pending free agents, such as RB Chester Taylor.

Others, such as DT Jimmy Kennedy, WR Greg Lewis and CB Benny Sapp are also on schedule to become free agents in the early part of March. Because the Vikings are limited in pursuing unrestricted free agents (UFAs) due to new rules that apply to the Final League Year, it’s even more important for the team to identify the players they’d like to retain.

From the sounds of it, the Vikings will try to retain most of their UFAs.

“We’ve always tried to keep our guys on the football team if we can get them back,” Spielman explained. “But sometimes, whether it’s a financial situation or something [else], it’s not always possible. Sometimes it works out.

“All our guys that are our unrestricted free agents are guys that helped us win ballgames last year and I think everybody in the organization feels strongly about at least trying to get these guys back.”

The highest-profile UFA on the Vikings roster is Taylor, who’s been an important part of the Vikings offense since he signed as a free agent back in 2006. If the Vikings are unable to reach an agreement with Taylor before March 5, the RB will be able to test the open market and assess his value.

With that said, Spielman was then asked what kind of market environment he expects given the new rules in the Final League Year. The new rules are such that the salary cap disappears, but so does the salary floor. So will teams spend money as if it’s going on trees? Or will they sit on the money because there’s no spending requirement?

“I don’t know where the market’s going because it’s a whole new deal this year,” Spielman. “I don’t know what other teams are going to do; like I said, it’s an unknown.

“But Chester is one of those guys that we would definitely want to try to sign back if we can. Just like Greg Lewis, just like Jimmy Kennedy, just like Benny Sapp. All those guys are a huge part of our success last year.”

– This was Spielman’s response when he was asked about free agent RBs LaDainian Tomlinson and Brian Westbrook, who’ve both been linked to the Vikings since their release from the Chargers and Eagles, respectively: “We stick to the same philosophy we’ve always had. Regardless of the position, if there’s a guy out there that can help us, then we do it. If we can fill it from within, then we do that as well. I don’t think we’d ever not look at anybody that becomes available, but you have discussions about it and you make your decision and move on.”

Spielman (wisely) didn’t elaborate specifically on either Tomlinson or Westbrook and instead reiterated in a general sense that the Vikings take a good look at every available player and make a determination, based on several factors, as to whether or not each player is a good fit for the organization.

–Don’t forget that the Vikings have a healthy crop of restricted free agents (RFAs) that they must address. Those RFAs are: OL Ryan Cook, DE Ray Edwards, DT Fred Evans, QB Tarvaris Jackson, CB Karl Paymah and FB Fahu Tahi. Spielman said today that the Vikings have decided which tender level they will assign to each player but that the club will not disclose that information until the day before free agency. 

–As we touched on earlier Thursday, the lack of a salary cap and a salary floor this offseason could have any number of consequences on this year’s free agent climate (owners could spend like crazy or they could keep their pocketbooks closed). Spielman was clear in explaining that it’s not known how other teams will respond to this new environment and that his sole focus is on developing and executing a free agency plan for the Vikings. Asked if Vikings ownership has given a “green light” to pursuing players, this was Spielman’s response: “I just know that our ownership, since I’ve been here, has always done things to make sure that if there is someone we feel that unique about that we are able to go out and get them. Again, we are very fortunate, the fans of Minnesota are very fortunate, to have owners that are willing to go out and put the resources out there to go get the players that we need to win ballgames.”