MVN - Most Valuable Network

Could The Vikings Sign Allen Following Draft?

Very interesting rumor reported by Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk. Today’s news that Jared Allen has departed from Minnesota without a deal has caused concern among the Viking faithful, as many are worried that Tampa might swoop in and acquire Allen before the Vikings can complete a trade. However, even though it’s disappointing that a deal couldn’t be completed over the weekend, one thing is certain: All is not lost for the Vikings. As Florio reports, Allen might still be wearing purple next season even if a trade cannot be completed before the draft:

We received a text message and a phone call late Saturday/early Sunday from a league source who shared with us a curious development regarding the Minnesota Vikings’ ongoing efforts to acquire Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen.

Per the source, the Vikings are “likely” to sign Allen to an offer sheet after next weekend’s draft, if a “fair” trade can’t be worked out before then.

The move meshes with the idea that came us to like an acorn to a blind squirrel on Saturday. With the Chiefs reportedly wanting a first-round pick and a second-round pick for Allen, why not simply nab Allen with a poison-pilled offer sheet and foist on the Chiefs the Vikings’ first-round picks in 2009 and 2010?

Love it. As Florio goes on to say, the Vikings’ rumored intentions to sign Allen following the draft indicate that the two sides have virtually agreed to a long-term contract, but are being held up by the stubbornness of Chiefs GM Carl Peterson. Spielman is sending the message to Peterson that the Chiefs will need to accept the Vikings’ first- and third-rounders this year, or Kansas City will end up with two draft picks that are (presumably) late in the first round, in two separate seasons.

If the Chiefs fail to add any picks in this year’s draft as compensation for Allen…well, God’s speed, Carl Peterson. After seeing their team win four games last season, I doubt Chiefs fans would be jumping for joy if Peterson failed to acquire any immediate help (aka: additional picks for Saturday’s draft) in exchange for their franchise defensive end.

Don’t get me wrong — I’d rather trade two picks for this year’s draft than two first-rounders in future years. Considering Allen’s off-field issues, I’d be somewhat hesitant to give up more than first- and third-round picks (I’d willingly give up a first and second, but two first-round picks seems like a bit much for Allen). However, I doubt that the Vikings will actually end up spending two first-round picks on Allen because this rumor should serve as an excellent bargaining chip. Ultimately, this will simply put additional pressure on Peterson to complete a trade before the draft.

Bottom line: At the end of the day, the Chiefs would rather add draft picks for Saturday’s draft than additional picks in the 2009 and 2010 drafts. And because of that, I’m still pretty confident that a deal will get done within the next week.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 20th, 2008 at 12:29 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.