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Vikings in trouble? Brett Favre now leaning towards retirement.

Anthony Stalter — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:17:00 +0000

When training camp rolled around last year, Vikings head coach Brad Childress was fully prepared to head into the season with either Sage Rosenfels or Tarvaris Jackson as his starting quarterback.

Let’s hope he still feels that way.

Judd Zulgad of the Minnesota Star-Tribune reports via his Twitter page that Brett Favre began telling Vikings officials last night that he will not return for a 20th season. Apparently Favre’s ankle has not responded the way he had hoped and he is now leaning towards retirement.

First and foremost, if Favre has been honest with the Vikings about his ankle this entire time, then there’s nothing more the team or Childress could expect from Brett. Both Childress and Favre have stated this entire time that they didn’t know what would happen and neither of them said either way whether or not he would return for another season.

That said, the cynic in me wonders if Favre led Childress and the Vikings to believe that he would return. For a guy that went to great lengths to make sure he didn’t hand the job to Jackson last offseason (including trading for Rosenfels and completely avoiding giving Jackson any encouragement through the media), Childress has been awfully calm about his quarterback position this offseason. Is he really fine with heading into the season with either Jackson or Rosenfels? Or had he known that Favre wasn’t coming back, would he have gotten another quarterback at some point over the last couple of months (either in free agency or the draft)?

Granted, this is Brett Favre we’re talking about. This is a man that absolutely despises training camp and will stop at nothing (including tormenting the media with his annual retirement dance) to avoid it. Jackson could be lining up to take his first snap under center in Week 1 and Favre could come running out of the tunnel to proclaim his return.

You just can’t put anything past him.

However, if Zulgad’s report holds true and Favre doesn’t come back, then the Vikings could be in a world of hurt. They still have Adrian Peterson, a solid offensive line and an outstanding front seven on defense, but without Favre and the threat of an efficient passing game, opponents will just stack the box to take away AP. Plus, Don Banks of SI.com reported yesterday that two of three hip specialists recommended that Sidney Rice have surgery in the offseason, which he never did. If Rice is hobbled, the Vikes’ passing game would take yet another huge hit.

Again, we just have to wait and see what happens. It shouldn’t surprise anyone if three weeks from now the media started reporting that Favre was coming back. Training camp will have wound down by then and maybe his ankle will start feeling better too. (I’m sure Childress would literally rip his own soul out of his body for Brett to return, so that’s an option as well.)

But if he doesn’t return, then the entire landscape in the NFC North changes. The Packers already proved last year that they were serious threats to the Vikings. Without Favre in Minnesota, Green Bay would become the favorites to take over the division.

Update: Childress, in the denial stage of grief, has reiterated to the media that Favre has not told him he’s retiring.

Raiders interested in Sage Rosenfels?

Anthony Stalter — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:00:27 +0000

The National Football Post reports that the Raiders and Vikings are discussing the availability of quarterback Sage Rosenfels. That’s the second quarterback (Donovan McNabb was the first) in the past week that Oakland has been tied to via a potential trade.

Whether or not the Rosenfels report holds any water, the writing is on the wall for JaMarcus Russell, who apparently now weighs a hefty 290 pounds. It has been assumed that Russell would get at least one more opportunity to show the Raiders that he can be their starting quarterback, but maybe the team is ready to cut bait now. (And who can blame them given his nonchalant attitude and horrendous work ethic.)

Rosenfels isn’t a long-term solution for the Raiders, but he would be an upgrade over Russell and Bruce Gradkowski. None of the current quarterbacks on Oakland’s roster offer much long-term hope, but even Gradkowski proved to be more effective running the team’s offense than Russell before he got hurt late in the year. And while Rosenfels didn’t take a meaningful snap last season, he’s still a better option than Gradkowski at this point.

One thing to keep in mind is that if the Vikings do part with Rosenfels, it would virtually be a guarantee that Brett Favre is coming back. Minnesota won’t part with an insurance policy like Rosenfels, even if they believe Tarvaris Jackson can supplant Favre someday.

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Five QB options for Vikings in 2010

Anthony Stalter — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:07:20 +0000

If Brett Favre has indeed thrown his last pass for the Vikings and decides to retire in the offseason, here are five options at quarterback for Minnesota next season.

1. Donovan McNabb
The Eagles currently have three quarterbacks on their roster and there’s some sentiment that they want Kevin Kolb to be the starter next season. There are a couple of connections that could link McNabb to Minnesota, none bigger than Brad Childress, who coached McNabb for seven years when he was the Eagles’ quarterback coach and offensive coordinator. Also, Minnesota’s current QB coach is Kevin Rogers, who was McNabb’s QB coach at Syracuse. If the Eagles do want to go with Kolb, Minnesota might be a logical landing spot for McNabb. Of course, the two teams would have to figure out compensation for the veteran QB.

2. Michael Vick
Even though he’s currently on the Eagles’ roster, the team has no intentions of making him a starter. If Philly decides to stick with McNabb or start the Kevin Kolb era, then Vick (who wants to be a starter) would be expendable. In fact, he may already be expendable and if the Eagles want a return on their investment, then they could deal him to an interested party. Vick could challenge Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels for the starting position, although the main problem is that Childress runs the West Coast Offense and Vick is a questionable fit for that system despite playing in it under Gregg Knapp in Atlanta.

3. Tarvaris Jackson
Jackson, the Vikings’ starter in last year’s playoffs, reportedly wants to stay in Minnesota to have the opportunity to earn his starting job back. He’s a restricted free agent, so the Vikings would have to match any offer that another team presents if they do want to hang onto him, but it’s doubtful that another club would shell out big bucks for Jackson anyway. The key is whether or not Childress still believes that Jackson has a future in the NFL as a starter. If he doesn’t, then obviously the Vikings won’t make much of an effort to re-sign him.

4. Sage Rosenfels
Before the signed Favre, the Vikes traded for Rosenfels because they wanted him to compete with Jackson. Considering he’s still under contract, it would make sense that they would given him an opportunity to start next season if none of the above options materialize. That said, he never did beat out Jackson for the team’s No. 2 job so it stands to reason that the Vikings only view him as a backup.

5. The Draft.
Jimmy Clausen, Sam Bradford, Jevan Snead, Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow, Dan LeFevour and Tim Hiller are just some of the quarterbacks that will be available in April’s draft. But as with all quarterback prospects, they all come with their faults and some of the top names won’t be available to the Vikings when they pick at the end of the first round.

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If Favre retires, was signing worth it for Vikings?

Anthony Stalter — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:09:43 +0000

Before their win over the Cowboys in the Divisional Round two weeks ago, I proposed the question of whether or not signing Brett Favre was worth it for the Vikings. Now that Minnesota has been knocked out of the playoffs and the annual Brett Favre retirement dance has begun, I’m proposing a similar question.

If Favre does decide to hang ‘em up this offseason, was signing him for one year worth it for the Vikings?

Had they lost to Dallas, I would have empathically said “no” to the above question. The Vikings won the division and reached the playoffs with Gus Frerotte and Tarvaris Jackson in 2008. So for all intents and purposes, had they lost to the Cowboys the Vikings would not have improved under Favre and therefore, his signing would have been a waste. After all, Minnesota didn’t jump over all the hurdles to sign Favre last offseason just so they could win another division title and be bounced in their first playoff game. And had he retired after a loss to Dallas, the signing would have looked even worse.

However, my stance has changed after the Vikes advanced to the NFC Championship Game because that meant they did improve with Favre under center. They weren’t knocking on the door of a Super Bowl last year with Jackson at quarterback and although we’ll never know, I highly doubt they would have reached the NFC title game with Jackson or Sage Rosenfels this season.

So yeah, the signing of Favre was worth it in my eyes. Did they sign him in hopes that he would advance them to the Super Bowl? Of course they did, but 30 teams fail to reach the Super Bowl every year and 28 of them didn’t get as far as the Vikings did this season. They knew they were a quarterback away from making a legitimate run and they did what they had to do in order to sign one of the best in the game.

But all this being said, one could still make the argument that because the Vikings failed to reach the Super Bowl, the signing of Favre was a waste. Keep in mind what he put them through last offseason in terms of making the decision about whether or not to return. Poor Jackson and Rosenfels had to field questions on a daily basis about Brett, all the while trying to compete for a job that may or may not have been available when the season started. Brad Childress essentially had to alienate the quarterbacks that were already on his roster in order to appease a veteran quarterback that he may or may not have the opportunity to coach. Then when Favre did sign, the Vikings still had to worry about what kind of an effect he would have on team chemistry and in the locker room.

In the end, the Vikings didn’t accomplish their goal of making it to the Super Bowl. If Favre retires, was everything they went through in the offseason worth it? Before you answer, keep in mind that if Favre doesn’t return the Vikings now have two quarterbacks in Jackson and Rosenfels who haven’t played in a year. And one of them (Jackson) is a restricted free agent.

If Brett does decide to come back for another season, then at least the Vikings had two cracks at trying to win a Super Bowl with the same roster. But if he doesn’t, then was all of this worth it for them to lose to the Saints in the NFC Championship Game?

If Favre retires, was his signing worth it to Vikings?

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If the Vikings lose on Sunday, would signing Favre have been a waste?

Anthony Stalter — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:29:55 +0000

The Minnesota Vikings didn’t just sign Brett Favre in the offseason: They jumped through every hoop and hopped every hurdle in front of them in order to acquire the ageless one, including alienating Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson in the process. (And while I can’t prove it, I also fully believe that Brad Childress sold his soul in order to sign Favre as well.)

That’s why if the Vikings lose this Sunday to the Dallas Cowboys, signing Favre would have arguably been a waste. A team like Minnesota doesn’t subject itself the way it did this offseason to sign a 40-year old quarterback to lose in the second round of the playoffs. It signs a 40-year old drama queen because he’s worth it and to ensure that the team is going to have a shot at winning the Super Bowl.

Okay, so there are no sure things in pro football. Signing Favre didn’t guarantee anything for the Vikings, but they knew that they were a legit passing attack away from being a Super Bowl contender and so far, suffering through Favre’s drama this offseason has been worth it.

But if they lose this weekend, then they would have accomplished nothing. Favre isn’t going to play forever (uh, I think) and the Vikings’ window of opportunity to win a Super Bowl has been shrinking since Week 1. If they lose to the Cowboys, then the Vikes will have won precisely the same amount of playoff games with Tarvaris Jackson under center last year: Zero.

Favre is 3-7 in his last 10 postseason appearances and the Cowboys are red-hot. The Vikings have also managed to somehow stop running the ball effectively despite having Adrian Peterson in the backfield, and Dallas will no doubt utilize its outstanding pass-rush to force Favre into making mistakes. In other words, the Vikings have quite the challenge on their hands.

There’s no shame in losing to a better team, but the Vikings are built to win now. Yes, their defense still has holes – especially in the secondary. But this team proved throughout the season that it’s one of the top three teams in the conference and has enough talent to reach the title game. Winning the division was a great accomplishment for Minnesota, but expectations have hardly been met. If they advance to the NFC Championship Game, then at least they could say that they improved from last year and was close to a Super Bowl berth.

But if they lose this Sunday, then what would signing Favre have amounted to? A division title? The Vikings already achieved that last year with a similar roster. No, this team signed Favre for much more and anything short of a Super Bowl appearance would be a grave disappointment.

If they lose this Sunday, would the signing of Favre have been a waste for the Vikings?

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Vikings shopping Tarvaris Jackson

Anthony Stalter — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:30:42 +0000

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Vikings are actively shopping quarterback Tarvaris Jackson.

Jackson has been the subject of trade rumors since Brett Favre arrived. However, it remains unclear which direction the Vikings will go if they are unable to trade Jackson.

Jackson, who started 20 games in his first three seasons with the team, admitted he feels a sense of uncertainty about his situation, but he said he is focused on preparing for Friday’s preseason finale against the Dallas Cowboys.

This move makes sense with Favre and Sage Rosenfels on the roster, although there’s a likely chance that Brett will break down at some point and the Vikings will only be left with Rosenfels. Still, Jackson arguably has the most trade value based on his age and given that he’s a free agent at the end of the year, now would be a good time to move him.

Report: Favre has “little support” in Vikings locker room

Anthony Stalter — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:40:52 +0000

According to a report by ESPN.com, there appears to be schism in the Vikings locker room when it comes to whom the players want under center this year. Some favor Tarvaris Jackson, while others like Sage Rosenfels.

Either way, there appears to be little support for Brett Favre.

Sources with knowledge of the Vikings locker-room dynamics say some players believe Tarvaris Jackson gives the Vikings the best chance to win, while other players believe Sage Rosenfels gives the team the best chance to win — which is one of the new twists to this storyline. In the words of one NFL source, Favre has “little support” in the locker room as Minnesota prepares for its Monday night preseason game against the Houston Texans.

Vikings coach Brad Childress was even asked Wednesday about the speculation.

“I’ve seen the same reports you’ve seen,” Childress said. “Those are opinions. It’s hard to shoot holes in an opinion. It’s just that — an opinion. I certainly don’t see it.”

If this situation winds up blowing up in the Vikings’ faces, Childress will have nobody to blame but himself. In his desire to put Favre under center, he turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the rest of his team and their wants.

Granted, a head coach needs to do what he feels best for his team to win and not allow the players to run the organization. But in this particular situation, Childress will have to suffer the consequences if things don’t pan out, because he put Favre’s wants above all else.

It’s going to be an interesting season in Minnesota this year. Childress better hope this Favre situation works out in the end or else he’ll face massive criticism. But if Brett wins, then nobody is going to remember what went down in August.