Jeff: The Monday Musings

Anyone seen Jer? Anyone?

- Ok, pile it on, I deserve it; I said last week that me talking about the Vikes/Steelers game and thinking that actually maybe, sorta, kinda, perhaps the Vikes might have a shot at beating Pittsburgh would jinx them. Who's to say if it did, but I know the Vikes played their worst game in two months, since they were blown out by Carolina. But still, if you feel better by blaming me, then do so. Merry Christmas (anyone offended by me using the word "Christmas", well too bad)

- I think we knew before the Pittsburgh game that the Vikes were not Super Bowl contenders, and that IF we snuck into the playoffs anything other than that would be gravy. Well nothing's changed for me after the loss. The most encouraging thing for me yesterday was how well the Vikes defense played. Allowing 18 points to a decent offense, especially with the Vikes offense doing everything possible to give the ball away everytime they got it, has to be a sign of hope for the rest of the year and next: ladies, and gentlemen, we finally have a defense.

- Brad Johnson was terrible yesterday, but as I said last week, if you're counting on him to win, you're in trouble. At this stage in his career, he's excellent in managing games and making good decisions, but when he's forced to do too much, the results aren't good. But really, considering how many injuries and how much chaos there's been on offense, I don't think we're that far away from getting back to being the Super Bowl contender we thought we'd be when the year started. Stop laughing, I'm serious.

- Minnesota HAS to draft a QB in April. Doesn't have to be with the #1 pick, but they need to take a kid they think has starting potential down the road. One of the many blunders the front office has made has been not bothering to develop a young QB in case Daunte got hurt.

- Speaking of #11, word in the Startrib today is that he desires to play in '06 for a team that "wants him". Let the record show I've always been a Daunte supporter, and never understood the criticism he received before this year, but I just don't see how he's going to be in a purple uniform next year (unless it's in Baltimore). The guy took a ton of heat when he was an MVP-level peformer, and after a bad year both on and off the field, especially considering how well the team's played in his absence, I just don't see how he comes back. With all of his physical gifts, and I could be completely wrong here, but he seems to be pretty sensitive, and I just wonder how effective he'll be. I don't think he'll ever approach the guy he was if he stays, and with the knee injury he suffered, I wonder if he'll ever be the same no matter where he plays. However, he's a hard worker, so it won't be from lack of effort.

- Yeah it's probably too early to speculate on Daunte's future, especially with the question of how much he'll even play in '06 still lingering. However, I've heard some ridiculous speculation of being able to trade Daunte in a package for a high draft pick: dream on, people. Even IF the guy was fully healthy, no NFL team is going to give up a 1st round pick for a guy with a $100 million contract who played as poorly as he did. There's just no way. Compound that with the fact the guy suffered a horrendous knee injury which, using examples of RB's Willis McGahee and Edgerin James, usually takes two full seasons for a player to approach 100%, I wonder how interested anybody would be in dealing for him. Zygy's on record as saying he wants Daunte on the roster for '06, but I wonder how plauisble it is to keep a guy with a huge contract like that who could miss the beginning of the year, and may not be back to starter-quality until '07. He's owed a ton of money, but from what I understand, the Vikes could cut him without receiving a huge cap penalty because of the contract structure. Somebody smarter than I will talk about this sometime in the offseason, but my point is that we're not trading Daunte for anything; if you don't want him in Minnesota for '06 you're getting nothing in return.