Two assertions are making the rounds of those covering the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL. One, extant since anyone began giving thought to this year's possible salary cap numbers, is that the Vikings are over the salary cap. The other, current since Tuesday but picking up steam, is that former Viking offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie was a solid player on whom the team could count, week after week. Neither assertion is supported either by the numbers or logic.
Salary Cap
Prior to any free-agent signings, the Vikings were committed to approximately $95 million in base salary in 2011. The only two additional payouts that could increase that figure are pro-rated portions of signing bonuses and unattained "likely-to-be-achieved" incentive bonuses. Incentive bonuses count against the cap for the year in which they are offered and are only meaningful salary cap surprises if the NFL deems that unattained LTAs were unattainable, whereby the NFL attributes the unattained salary to the subsequent year's salary cap.
Under the Wilfs' ownership, the Vikings, as has been noted in this column on previous occasion, have relied on front-loaded roster bonuses. As an aside, and to allay another myth, this strategy actually makes Rob Brzezinski's job one of the easiest in the NFL as he is not asked to make any tough balancing decisions between how much to pay now and how much to pay later. As a non-aside, this reliance on roster bonuses makes the Vikings' salary cap situation more transparent than it is for most other teams as there is limited to no calculation required for pro-rated elements of players' contracts.
What all this means is that even after signing Donovan McNabb, Charlie Johnson, Hussain Abdullah, and Ryan Longwell, the Vikings remain well below the salary cap ceiling of $120 million for 2011. And that would have been true even if the Vikings had not cut Bryant McKinnie or restructured Bernard Berrian's contract--both of which the team did. That means that the Vikings do, in fact, have money to spend on several more free agents, even if the team opts not to reach a long-term agreement with linebacker Chad Greenway (a move the team will make in the very near future) and even if the Vikings rely on roster bonuses in any restructuring or free-agent deals.
The question for Minnesota thus is not whether they have the cap space to sign more free agents but whether they will sign more free agents. Given the team's need to maintain a heightened fan base interest to spur the on-going stadium drive (one of the greatest arguments for limited public funding of NFL stadiums), it is a near certainty that the Vikings will yet add two or three more veterans--particularly players able to fill holes on the offensive line and at defensive end, nose tackle, and/or wide-receiver.
McKinnie Myth
Dove-tailing with the claim that the Vikings are over the salary cap ceiling is the absurd contention that former left offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie was even remotely dependable. Rarely has a Viking player been less dependable than McKinnie. Despite all the benefits of a huge frame and purportedly agile feet, McKinnie was a disinterested sloth who routinely lost ground to on-coming defensive linemen.
The eye test is really all that is necessary to assess McKinnie's production in the NFL. In ten NFL seasons, McKinnie had one season that any objective eye test would find worthy of a Pro Bowl. Two years later, as is tradition in the NFL, McKinnie was rewarded for that one season, in the midst of a truly putrid season.
Whether taking a lead pipe to someone's head, failing to be in shape for games, or declining to assist his quarterback off the turf, McKinnie certainly could be counted on during his time in Minnesota. Unfortunately for his teammates and the fans, what he could be counted on was to be little better than a disinterested replacement-level player. He will not be missed either on the field or in the stands, unless one misses seeing the Vikings' quarterback lit up from the blind side.
Up Next: Possible Signings and Goings.
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Tuesday, August 02, 2011
He Gone
Early Tuesday, the Minnesota Vikings did themselves a much belated favor, cutting ties with disinterested left offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie. The move saves the team approximately $6 million and saves Vikings' fans from what has to have been one of the more horrific two-year runs of blind-side cover in recent NFL history.
The Vikings' cutting of McKinnie comes one day after the team signed former Indianapolis Colts' left offensive tackle Charlie Johnson to a free-agent contract and one day after the team placed McKinnie on the Non-Football-Injury reserve list. At the time of Johnson's signing, the Vikings stated that McKinnie's status was still in flux. McKinnie, himself, suggested that he intended to play for the Vikings in 2011. But whatever the Vikings' intentions yesterday, the team made its determination today that McKinnie will no longer be a part of the Vikings' future. For that, McKinnie has only himself to blame and fans, at long last, have McKinnie to thank.
Serving as a turnstile for much of his tenure in Minnesota, McKinnie was better known for poor footwork, laziness on and off the field, and a penchant for South Beach partying than for providing any semblance of a dedication to football. That McKinnie would allow himself to become so slovenly that the Vikings were forced to cut ties with him when they otherwise were perfectly willing to overpay him merely for his potential, pretty much tells McKinnie's story with the team and suggests an almost certain decline for McKinnie outside of the NFL.
When Brad Childress and Zygi Wilf first entered the picture in Minnesota, they pledged to clean house of all players of suspect character. That mantra rang true, but only to the extent that it applied to players that not only were suspect of character but also suspect in their play. Though McKinnie was not bashful about hitting someone upside the head with a metal bar, Childress found his play worthy of excusing such hijinks. Hence, McKinnie was labeled a "veteran leader," a label that suggested character.
Now that McKinnie's physical disrepair is too apparent to shield from the eyes no matter the mask, McKinnie's run in Minnesota is done. And with more money in the shed, the Vikings ought now be in a better position to reassess other areas of need.
Up Next: Dead Man Walking?
The Vikings' cutting of McKinnie comes one day after the team signed former Indianapolis Colts' left offensive tackle Charlie Johnson to a free-agent contract and one day after the team placed McKinnie on the Non-Football-Injury reserve list. At the time of Johnson's signing, the Vikings stated that McKinnie's status was still in flux. McKinnie, himself, suggested that he intended to play for the Vikings in 2011. But whatever the Vikings' intentions yesterday, the team made its determination today that McKinnie will no longer be a part of the Vikings' future. For that, McKinnie has only himself to blame and fans, at long last, have McKinnie to thank.
Serving as a turnstile for much of his tenure in Minnesota, McKinnie was better known for poor footwork, laziness on and off the field, and a penchant for South Beach partying than for providing any semblance of a dedication to football. That McKinnie would allow himself to become so slovenly that the Vikings were forced to cut ties with him when they otherwise were perfectly willing to overpay him merely for his potential, pretty much tells McKinnie's story with the team and suggests an almost certain decline for McKinnie outside of the NFL.
When Brad Childress and Zygi Wilf first entered the picture in Minnesota, they pledged to clean house of all players of suspect character. That mantra rang true, but only to the extent that it applied to players that not only were suspect of character but also suspect in their play. Though McKinnie was not bashful about hitting someone upside the head with a metal bar, Childress found his play worthy of excusing such hijinks. Hence, McKinnie was labeled a "veteran leader," a label that suggested character.
Now that McKinnie's physical disrepair is too apparent to shield from the eyes no matter the mask, McKinnie's run in Minnesota is done. And with more money in the shed, the Vikings ought now be in a better position to reassess other areas of need.
Up Next: Dead Man Walking?
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