And I have to disagree with RayMidge when you compare the Alexander situation to the Allen situation. Allen is only 26 and for his position has a good number of years left. Alexander was already getting up there in RB age and he’s been overrated for his whole career. He wasn’t even that good when he won the MVP – I could have had 20 touchdowns behind that O-line. I agree that the Vikings gave up too much, but defensive end has actually been a somewhat inconsistent position for the Vikes (mostly due to injury) and bringing Allen in will bring consistency and serious pass rush ability. (And though only 26, Allen has already put together 4 solid NFL years – averaging nearly 11 sacks a year).

Hate this move. I could see the value of a guy who has some knowledge to impart, but once DC’s physical skills (and HOF caliber teammates) disappeared so did his effectiveness. A washed up wily vet would be one thing- this looks like Tim Couch pt. II.

and for waht it’s worth, i think the Vikes made a classic blunder with Allen. You only need to look at Shawn Alexander’s getting cut to see the foolishness of overpaying for past performance. At least that only cost the seahawks money, traidng away your future in order to add an older guy to the part of the team that arguably already the strongest part of your team is how mediocrity perpetuates itself. My prediction is that the Vikes will get a lot of great preseason coverage as the sleeper team to watch but when the inevitable wave of injuries hits (and it almost always hits) a lack of depth will prove their undoing. there is a slight chance that they will get lucky in the short term health-wise, but with a guy like T. Jackson at QB now would not seem to be the time to mortgage the future on a short term gamble.