With NFL free agency set to open on Tuesday, March 11, the Minnesota Vikings will without a doubt be searching for a veteran quarterback, among other players.
Will that quarterback be Michael Vick? Adrian Peterson hopes so, but nobody knows for sure. Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman told ESPN’s Colin Cowherd today that he hopes to address the need at the position via free agency and the upcoming NFL Draft.
“We can’t talk about Michael Vick because of tampering stuff,” Spielman said. “In general, we’re always going to look at that, we went through that when Brett Favre was here … but we ended up getting to the NFC championship game. A lot of it has to do with how your coaches feel about it … and ‘Can he handle it and help you win ballgames.'”
If they sign a few players, the best case scenario is that they can put the players’ names on a list of their best free agent signings in team history. Vikings.com did just that, with a top 10 list released today.
- Antoine Winfield (2004)
- Brett Favre (2009)
- Steve Hutchinson (2006)
- Ryan Longwell (2006)
- Randall Cunningham (1997)
- Pat Williams (2005)
- Jeff Christy (1993)
- Gary Anderson (1998)
- Darren Sharper (2005)
- Ben Leber (2006)
The writer, Mike Wobschall, said Winfield was an “easy choice” at No. 1 because he started 119 games over nine seasons with the Vikings. Favre played just two seasons in Minnesota, but his 2009 season was perhaps the greatest single season for any quarterback in team history.
No. 3 is Steve Hutchinson, who recently retired from the NFL. He joined the Vikings in 2006 after a wild debate over free-agent etiquette, in which the Seattle Seahawks accused the Vikings of putting a “poison pill” in his contract so the Seahawks couldn’t match Minnesota’s offer. Hutchinson, to this day on Twitter, refers to himself as @PoisonPill76.
Think they missed anyone on the list?
