Sorry, couldn't think of another word that started with F...
...Sage is here! Sage is here! START PRINTING THOSE VIKINGS CHAMPIONSHIP T-SHIRTS!!!! Sage is here! Yep, NFL free agency started today and so far the Vikings big move has been to trade a 4th round pick for 31 year old former Houston Texans QB Sage Rosenfels. Put down the celebratory bottle of champaigne and try for a minute to think that maybe, just maybe, there's an outside chance Sage isn't any more of an answer than Gus Freotte was. Or Brooks Bollinger. Or Brad Johnson. Since Brad Childress has been coach we've been looking for a viable option at quarterback, and all we've gotten is a horrible T-Jack and little to nothing to compete against him. While I believe Sage is probably an upgrade over Freotte, I'm not sure how much of an upgrade- and especially when it cost The Purple a fourth rounder.
It's not like Sage is ready to break out in his mid to late 20's. The guy is 31 and was given every opportunity to be The Man in Houston for the past three seasons and didn't get it done. In eight years in the league he's played in just 32 games- an average of 4 a season- and has just 30 TD's to 29 INT's. Yes he has a career QB rating of 81.4, and yes his career completion percentage is a solid 62%, so I suppose there's still a chance of him being a late bloomer, but what was wrong with Jeff Garcia again? Yes Garcia's 39, but as a free agent he would not have cost a draft pick, and in the last two years with the Bucs was 14-11 in 25 regular season starts with a QB rating of 92, 64% completion% and 25 TDs to just 10 picks. Oh and he ran a very similar offense in Tampa to Chilly's "kick ass" offense. I don't get it, but then again, I don't understand why Chilly has stuck with T-Jack this long and has refused to bring in or pursue or draft a viable starter.
...Another one from the "this would make WAY too much sense to happen" file: free agent Bengals WR TJ Houshmandzadeh (championship!) told ESPN yesterday how much he'd love to be in Minnesota playing with Adrian Peterson. Ok sure he's visiting Seattle today and texted a Philadelphia radio station saying basically that "if the Eagles wanted him he'd be in Philly tomorrow", the point is there's a legit #1 wideout avaiable in free agency, and the Vikings have shown zero interest. Z-E-R-O. In the last three years all TJ has done is AVERAGE 98 catches 1,043 yards and 8 TD's. Good thing that's not EXACTLY the type of player the Vikings need to take pressure off both whoever the below-average-need-all-the-help-he-can-get quarterback will be and Bernard Berrian. But nope, so far, zero interest.
...Sliding under the radar a bit in all the free agency talk was the troubling news today out of California that could doom the Vikings future in Minnesota. The City of Industry, a Los Angeles suburb, made the no-brainer decision to approve a proposal for an $800 million stadium that would be entirely paid for by Majestic Real Estate Co. Yeah that's not good. The company can start shopping for an NFL team April 1st, and you'd better believe the NFL won't stand in their way, as they would love to get a franchise back into the country's second largest market. While Minnesota tax payers are absolutely doing the right thing by refusing to pay for a new stadium for billionaire owner Ziggy Wilf, the NFL won't hesitate to let him move the team to a brand new stadium in LA if he makes a good faith effort to get one built in Minnesota. As much as I wouldn't want to see another city lose their team, if you're a Vikings fan and you want The Purple to stay in MInnesota, you'd better start hoping another franchise like Jacksonville, San Diego, New Orleans or somebody else jumps at the offer first, because you know Ziggy WILL move the team if given the opportunity. The clock starts April 1, which for Vikes fans could be the sickest April Fool's Day joke ever.
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