Behind Enemy Lines

When reports first began to materialize that Brett Favre was considering coming out of retirement and returning to the NFL (for the 15th time) but was had been told that he was not welcome to return to the Packers, many Vikings fans chuckled at the outrageous thought of their long-time rival coming to play in Minnesota.

For a while, the idea was nothing but a silly rumor. Yet, recently, it has moved beyond that stage, with Star Tribune beat writer Judd Zulgad reporting that the Packers would now consider trading Favre to an NFC North rival such as the Bears or Vikings "if backed into a corner by the National Football League and public sentiment."

This is a weird situation for Vikings fans. They've spent the better part of the last two decades criticizing Favre and cheering for him to fail, and now the 38-year-old quarterback might represent the team's best opportunity to upgrade at its weakest position. Reports indicate that Favre wants to come to Minnesota, and it stands to reason that the Vikes would happily send a draft pick to Green Bay in order to acquire the future Hall-of-Famer.

My thoughts? I've always found Favre to be an extremely overrated player, and that's not going to change anytime soon. I hate watching announcers and analysts drool over him, and the idea that he's the quintessential team player is nothing short of absurd when you consider all the shenanigans he pulls to put the spotlight on himself every offseason. As a player, Favre is creative and sometimes entertaining, but also reckless to a fault.

With that said, he showed last year that he's still got something left in the tank and there's little question that he provides a significant upgrade over Tarvaris Jackson. Quarterback is really the only position that remains a question mark on this stacked Vikings roster, and adding an experienced veteran like Favre would round out the roster and make the Vikes an easy Super Bowl favorite. His presence would also make the Vikings a hot story and would draw tons of media attention, which would be nice. And of course, for all those Vikings fans who have had to deal with Packer-backers goading over Favre's greatness for so long, it would be fun to stick it to the Green Bay crowd in a major way.

I still think it's pretty unlikely that Favre ends up playing in Vikings uniform this season, but the notion is becoming more and more realistic by the day. And as much as Favre continues to bother me, I can't sit here and say that his addition wouldn't make the Vikings a better team.

Another Exciting Vikings Offseason

There are few things in this world that warrant as a level of enthusiasm on par with a Minnesota Vikings offseason under head coach Brad Childress. Maybe having a tooth pulled without Novacaine, or having your head stomped on with spiked cleats. But even those lovely activities probably can't match the sheer pain caused by a Vikes' free agency period. Last year, the team's big acquisitions were Visanthe Shiancoe, a former backup tight end with the Giants who ended up being entirely worthless, and Bobby Wade, a slot receiver from the Titans. I could barely contain my excitement. This year, Childress is at again with his crazy hijinx.

Last season the Vikings did two things well: run the ball, and stop the opposing team from running the ball. Everything else, they basically sucked at. The ranked 28th in the NFL in passing offense, and dead last in pass defense. As such, it makes sense that the team would seek to improve in these areas during the offseason.

Step one: replace departed safety Dwight Smith with a quality player who actually gives a damn. The Vikings' solution here was to sign Madieu Williams, apparently trying to maintain the team's "Williams quota" after the departure of Tank Williams. Some analysts say that Madieu is a good, hard-hitting safety and a solid acquisition for the Vikings, but let's look at the facts: Williams played last year for a Cincinnati secondary that was fairly awful in its own right (26th in the NFL) and the Bengals made no effort to maintain him despite the fact that he is only 26 years old and they had no obvious replacement waiting in the wings. Last year in Cincy, Williams collected two interceptions and was credited with seven passes defended. Dwight Smith last year intercepted four passes and defensed nine with the Vikes. Looks like a big upgrade for the pass D there.

Step two: find a competent receiver to replace Troy Williamson, who was quite possibly the single worst draft pick in the history of American sports. Here the Vikings signed Bernard Berrian from the Bears. Now, let's be fair here -- Berrian is a pretty decent receiver, and I have no problem paying him a few million bucks a year to slightly improve the Vikings' receiving corps. Unfortunately, the Vikes saw fit to sign Berrian to a six-year deal that makes him the fourth-highest paid receiver in the NFL. Here's all we need to know about the Berrian signing:

Bernard Berrian, 2007 stats: 71 rec, 951 yds, 5 TD
Berrian's contract w/ Vikes: 6 yrs, $42M ($16M guaranteed)
Randy Moss, 2007 stats: 98 rec, 1493 yds, 23 TD
Moss' contract w/ Pats: 3 yrs, $27M ($15M guaranteed)

In the world of logic and reason, these moves might not make sense. But in that big, bald, arrogant head of Brad Childress, they make all the sense in the world.