The Brett Favre factor alone suggested that there would be plenty of to the Minnesota Vikings upcoming season, but I don't think anyone could have predicted the significant shakeup to the Vikings 2011 roster.
Drafting Christian Ponder 12th overall--when many thought he was a second round pick--started this curious string of moves, but it was hardly the last.
Since then, they've let Sidney Rice leave for Seattle, they acquired Donovan McNabb from the Washington Redskins, and--having committed a great deal of money to Brian Robison back in March--they let Ray Edwards leave town for Atlanta.
I give the Vikings credit for making significant changes and not living in the past by saying "hey this team was one stupid overtime interception away from the Super Bowl just two years ago." They fired Brad Childress, didn't they?
But juxtaposed against one another, these are some strange decisions.
Rice may not have been a proven superstar--he had one very good year then suffered a bad hip injury--nd the hefty contract he was given by Seattle was surprising, but it does leave a big hole to fill....and if they go out and sign Braylon Edwards to a huge deal, they may have been better off keeping Rice.
And as crazy as it sound, the quarterbacks 180--going from Favre and Tarvaris Jackson to Ponder and McNabb--was necessary in order to prepare for the present and the future: McNabb is a great one or two year band-aid while they wait to see what Ponder can produce.
But letting Edwards walk--and it's not like Atlanta gave him the type of ridiculous contract the Panthers gave Charles Johnson--could be the most problematic.
I'm sure Brian Robison has promise and there is a reason why the club gave him that three-year deal. But Edwards has proven to be a great pass rusher and is actually two years younger than Robison.
It's going to take two or three years to know for sure whether the Rick Spielman and his staff let the dominoes fall in the right place. But for now, it's not looking that way.
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