Minnesota Vikings

The 1st round of the NFL Draft will take place tonight in New York. Indianapolis has the first pick and is expected to pick quarterback Andrew Luck of Stanford. Washington has the 2nd pick and is expected to chose quarterback Robert Griffin III of Baylor. The Vikings have the 3rd pick and will chose from 3 players or trade down. Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman has said the Vikings are interested in trading down. Buffalo reportedly is interested in trading up to draft left tackle Matt Kalil. The Bills have the #10 overall pick in the first round and #41 overall pick in the 2nd round.

Read More|Comment

The Vikings have signed free agent ex-Cincinnati Bengal receiver Jerome Simpson to an undisclosed contract. Simpson will have to sit out the first 3 games for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy while a member of the Bengals. Simpson was a 2nd round pick by the Bengals in 2008. He had 50 catches for 725 yards and 4 touchdowns in 2011.

Read More|Comment

Viking General Manager Rick Spielman indicated Thursday that the Vikings have narrowed their choice for the #3 overall pick in the first round of next Thursday's NFL draft to one of 3 players. The 3 players are LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne, USC offensive tackle Matt Kalil, and Oklahoma State receiver Justin Blackmon. Spielman says the Vikings have the players rated equally on their draft board and must decide which is the greatest position of need.

Read More|Comment

The St. Paul Pioneer Press is reporting that Vikings Vice President of public affairs and stadium development Lester Bagley says "There is no next year" when asked if the Vikings would pursue a Stadium deal during the next legislative session. Governor Mark Dayton responded Tuesday after the Viking Stadium bill failed in conference committee Monday night saying that the Vikings will get their stadium in 2013. Bagley went on to say "The last governor said in 2006 we'll come back and work on yours next year. That was 6 years ago. No action this year is a decision."

Read More|Comment

The Vikings signed free agent linebacker Marvin Mitchell Tuesday to a contract. The 27-year old Mitchell was a 7th round pick by New Orleans in 2007 and played 4 seasons with the Saints before playing last season with Miami. Mitchell had 30 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, 1 sack and 1 interception last season with the Dolphins. He primarily played on special teams for the Dolphins.

Read More|Comment

The Vikings signed free agent cornerback Chris Carr Wednesday. Terms of his deal were not disclosed. Carr is a 28-year old 5'10 182 pound veteran who played 9 games in Baltimore in 2011. He had 19 tackles and 1 sack with no interceptions. Carr will compete for playing time with Chris Cook, Antoine Winfield, newly signed Zack Bowman and Asher Allen.

Read More|Comment

According to Mike Florio at Profootballtalk.com the Vikings pursued retired NFL head coach Bill Parcells to "run the show" in Minnesota. The New York Post said the Vikings are currently "putting the hard sell" on Parcells while Parcells considers coming out of retirement to coach the New Orleans Saints in 2012 while his friend, Sean Payton serves a 1-year suspension for his role in the bounty system in New Orleans.

Read More|Comment

The Vikings have been awarded 2 4th round compensatory picks in this April's NFL Draft. The picks are 128th and 134th overall. The picks were expected by the Vikings but were announced Monday. These compensatory picks are awarded to teams with a net loss of unrestricted free agents, determined by a formula based on salary, playing time and postseason honors.

Read More|Comment

The Vikings have signed free agent cornerback Zack Bowman to a 1-year contract. Bowman was a starter last season with the Bears in Chicago. He had 15 tackles in 16 games in 2011 with no interceptions for the Bears. Bowman was a 5th round pick by Chicago in 2008.

Read More|Comment