A day after the Miami LOLphins officially signed offensive tackle Jake Long, another splash was made that could greatly impact what happens over the weekend. Jared Allen, the NFL leader in sacks in 2007, has been shipped off to Minnesota in exchange for a bounty of draft picks. By acquiring the Vikings’ first round pick (#17) and two additional third rounders, the Chiefs have officially entered rebuilding mode.

With the move, the Chiefs now possess few weapons on either side of the ball. However, they do have 6 of the NFL Draft’s top 100 selections in this weekend’s draft. What’s this mean? Rebuilding… and lots of it. Moving Allen hurts on the surface, but lets be realistic here. The Chiefs weren’t going anywhere with him, so why put up with an unhappy veteran with a huge price tag? It’s a deal that makes sense for the Chiefs. Expect the Chiefs to find a replacement for Allen with their 5th selection. Chris Long anyone?

For the Vikings, Allen fills a gaping hole in the defense. With the league’s best rush defense two years running (but little pass rush to speak of), Allen should make things a lot more difficult for NFC North quarterbacks. No longer will they have hours in the pocket because now, a drunken maniac will be there to knock them on their ass.

Does this move make the Vikings a contender in the weaker NFC? On the surface, it would appear so. We know the Vikings can stop the run and now, they have one of the league’s best defensive ends to harass guys like Aaron Rodgers, Jon Kitna and Rex Grossman. Unfortunately, the Vikings still have Tarvaris Jackson under center. That in itself forces me to take their newfound “contender status” with a grain of salt.

Norse culture revolved around pillaging and plundering. It appears as if the Minnesota Vikings have taken the same approach in regards to wide receiver Troy Williamson. Williamson missed last Sunday’s game versus the Chargers and the team decided that it would dock Williamson the game check because of it. A game check worth roughly $25,000.

There are a lot of times when morality comes into question under business circumstances. This is, after all, what head coach Haggard the Horrible Brad Childress referred to the situation as; a decision made on “business principle.” I’ll give you business principle, Childress. Troy Williamson not only was mourning the loss of his grandmother, but also the loss of $25 grand because of it. To me, that is one hell of an insult, especially to a guy who only has nine catches and is handicapped by the ignorance of his head coach’s play calls.

Placing blame on Williamson in the form of one game check because he missed a football game due to a funeral is absurd. I don’t know if I can imagine a scenario where work would come before immediate family issues. Childress did his best backpedal impression by saying that Pat Williams and Reggie Wayne played through family emergencies. That’s fantastic Childress. That doesn’t mean Troy Williamson is a bad person for opting to attend a funeral instead of being overthrown/underthrown by Tavaris Jackson. It also doesn’t mean he should get docked a game check because of it.

Hosts: Sonny, Ryan, Kevin and Rich. In this episode, the entire Sportable staff discusses the NFC East. There were debates on whether or not the Detroit Lions, led by Jon Kitna, can surprise people and compete in the NFC North. Also, Sonny made the gutsy prediction of the Green Bay Packers winning the division.

You can find Episode 28 here. (Download mp3)

For the entire month of August, the Sportable Staff will look at one National Football League team a day. We?ll look at their offense, defense and in the end, assess their playoff chances. Previews will be done by division, starting with the NFC East. Each new division will also feature a new podcast devoted entirely to that division.

This Team Still Exists?
The Minnesota Vikings enter the 2007 season looking to right the ship. After controversial head coach/scalper Mike Tice was shown the door, the Vikes brought in slightly less charismatic Brad Childress. The result was a six win season and one of the worst offenses in the entire league. You take a look at this roster and you would expect some big things. The Vikings have the essentials to a great team: Great offensive/defensive lines. Outside of that, there’s not much to be excited about.

Offense
The Vikings enter the season with a new quarterback, second year guy Tavaris Jackson, who was selected in the 3rd round last year. When 67 year old Brad Johnson was benched late in the year, Jackson was able to get some reps in. I’m just a bit skeptical on whether or not he could lead an NFL team. It’s just that the offense was ran at such a remedial level under Johnson. Did this team ever take a shot down field? But this team must have some confidence in Jackson. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have passed up Notre Dame Golden Boy Brady Quinn in the draft, opting to take Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson. Peterson, a stud at Oklahoma, will battle Chester Taylor for touches. Taylor ran for over 1200 yards last year and could form a pretty nasty running back tandem with Peterson. Jackson won’t asked to do much because this offense will be so reliant on running behind guys like Bryant McKinnie, Steve Hutchinson and Matt Birk.

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Whenever I thought of Brad Johnson this season, I would think a few things. Old. Boring. Uninspiring. Average. After recent events, I can now think of other words to describe Brad Johnson. Unemployed. Cut. Done. Washed up. The Vikings cut Johnson on Wednesday, ending his second tenure with the team.

But according to countless announcers this past season, he was solid. A great leader. ESPN’s Joe Theismann made October 30th’s game against the Patriots “Brad Johnson Night.” A simple three yard swing pass was great. Nevermind Johnson’s three interceptions in that game and his 15 this season. He’s solid, alright. He’s also unemployed.

“Brad has been a true pro throughout his career and we wish him the best as he moves forward,” Vikings coach Brad Childress said. “Brad was an important part of the team and a guy who led by example on and off the field. He’s a class act and a guy younger players could learn a lot from about what it takes to play in the NFL.”

That statement describes the Vikings’ situation from a year ago. Johnson can certainly serve as a tutor for younger quarterbacks. But that wasn’t his role in 2006. It was the starting quarterback, something he clearly doesn’t have the consistency for anymore. He had a nice comeback in 2005, throwing 12 touchdowns to just four interceptions but looked out of sorts all season long.

This leaves the Vikings with second year player Tavaris Jackson and Brooks Bollinger to battle for the quarterback spot. With the 7th pick in the draft, Childress hasn’t ruled out drafting a quarterback. The Vikings have some pretty decent pieces in place, they just need to grow a pair and install a more exciting offense. Then I’ll start caring about this franchise again.

Watching last night’s Packers-Vikings game really puzzled me. Aside from the awfulness that is Bryant Gumbel, I was shocked at how ineffective the Vikings were, especially when I heard this statement: the Vikings have 8 first round draft picks on the defensive side of the ball. The Vikes have the stingiest run defense in the NFL and a pretty damn good secondary. How are they 6-9?

If there’s a team that should consider making a run at Matt Schaub, it’s the Vikings. The Vikes are a couple players on the offensive side of the ball from contending. I think those players include Schaub and a wide receiver in the first round of the draft. They don’t have a single weapon to speak of besides Chester Taylor, their offseason pickup that has had a nice year.

The simple equation at the start of the year was simple: contain the opposing offense and Brad will be solid enough to not blow any games. 9 touchdowns and 15 interceptions later, Johnson finds his old ass on the bench and rookie Tavaris Jackson in. I don’t think Jackson is quite ready to bringing in a guy like Schaub may be a good fit.

Minnesota should be guaranteed 3 or 4 in-division wins every season because of the Packers and Lions. But again, they’ve disappointed. These aren’t as bad as the years where they would start 6-0 and then fold. But again, the Vikings have squandered a decent start (4-2) into another bad season.

Hey, at least the team doesn’t like boat rides anymore. They also have a coach that looks like he’s never even been on a boat, let alone had sex. If Childress can take a chance on a guy like Dwayne Jarrett or Ted Ginn Jr., I think it’ll finally bring some excitement to an offense that hasn’t had any since Randy Moss bolted.