Minnesota Vikings Rumors & News

ESPN.com "Cutting two games off the preseason -- either by expanding the playoffs or moving to an 18-game schedule -- is still being discussed, commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday at the NFL's spring owners meetings in Boston. He said all "[options] are on the table." "As I have said before, I..." May 23

Akron Beacon Journal "Jimmy Haslam, whose purchase of the Browns was unanimously approved in October, apologized to fellow NFL owners for the negative attention an ongoing federal investigation targeting his family business, Pilot Flying J, has brought upon the league, Jarrett Bell of USA Today reported. Since the..." May 23

NFL.com "The NFL draft provides football fans with a peek into the exhilaration that comes with entering the league. Far less publicized is a player's exit from the game, which carries its own emotional weight. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said at the NFL Spring Meeting in Boston that he had met with..." May 22

St. Paul Pioneer Press "The Vikings won't talk about it, but the coming season should be make-or-break for quarterback Christian Ponder. He needs to be healthy and play well, or he probably won't be the Vikings' starting QB in 2014. A lot of Ponder's status with the Vikings is contractual. As a first-round draft pick..." May 20

Fox Sports North "From the moment the Minnesota Vikings made perhaps the draft's biggest move by trading a bevy of picks to acquire Cordarrelle Patterson in the first round, they've talked about a "plan" for developing the talented, but raw receiver. Decision makers like general manager Rick Spielman and Leslie..." May 20

Minneapolis Star Tribune "If the Vikings are going to get to the Super Bowl with their current group of veteran players, they better do it this year. Why is that the case? The Vikings will have 17 players who can become unrestricted free agents after the season, including most of their defensive line. Starters Kevin..." May 19

Fox Sports North "Do you live in Minnesota and smoke? You may be helping to fund the construction of the NFL’s newest project, the Minnesota Vikings’ $977 million stadium. The Star Tribune reported on Friday that Minnesota governor Mark Dayton introduced a new revenue proposal that would more than double the tax..." May 19

Minneapolis Star Tribune "The Vikings signed three more draft picks Wednesday. Agreeing to four-year, rookie deals are punter Jeff Locke, a fifth-round pick from UCLA; and offensive linemen Travis Bond, a seventh rounder from North Carolina, and Jeff Baca, a sixth rounder from UCLA. Only the team’s first round..." May 16

CBSSports.com "It sounds like punter Chris Kluwe -- cut earlier this month by the Vikings -- will continue to be outspoken about the issues in which he believes. Now, he'll have to take his megaphone to the West Coast. That's because he has signed a one-year deal with the Raiders for the league minimum, Fox..." May 16

Minneapolis Star Tribune "Those who thought Joe Webb had no future as a quarterback should be happy, because the former Alabama-Birmingham standout has become a full-time wide receiver for the Vikings. Coach Leslie Frazier said the decision to shift Webb to receiver was made after the draft, when the team selected..." May 16

Minneapolis Star Tribune "First, e-pulltabs virtually collapsed as a revenue source for the state’s share of the new Vikings stadium. Now the sports memorabilia tax, once thought to be a fallback plan, may also be doomed. With only six days left in the legislative session, Senate leaders on Tuesday declared the idea..." May 15

CBSSports.com "Vikings fans can finally be proud of their football stadium after the team revealed designs for their new home on Monday night. Although the stadium won't have a retractable roof, the geometrically designed structure will feature tons of transparent glass siding that will look into Minneapolis'..." May 14

Fox Sports North "Michael Mauti watched April's NFL draft for three days, unsure where, or if, he would get the chance to continue his football career at the next level. Six rounds went by and Mauti, the Penn State linebacker who was on the Butkus Award watch list at the start of the season for the top..." May 11

Minneapolis Star Tribune "Need a mid-week, mid-May fix of Vikings analysis? We're here for you. This morning, the crew from the NFL Network's "NFL AM" show provided an early wake-up call to the Access Vikings Think Tank to look ahead at several key components of the 2013 season. And after discussing the draft-weekend..." May 11

Minneapolis Star Tribune "The Minnesota Vikings will pay the University of Minnesota up to $3 million a season to play at TCF Bank Stadium while their new stadium is being built. The University of Minnesota’s governing board is expected to sign off Friday on a deal announced Thursday that requires the NFL team to pay..." May 11

NFL.com "It's widely believed that punter Chris Kluwe was released by the Minnesota Vikings on Monday in part because he felt compelled to weigh in on a myriad of social, cultural and sports-related issues. Now Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton feels compelled to offer his two cents on a subject that is..." May 09

St. Paul Pioneer Press "The University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Vikings have reached agreement on the Vikings' use of TCF Bank Stadium for two seasons. The Vikings would play outdoors on the university's Minneapolis campus in 2014 and 2015 while the NFL team's new stadium is built on the site of the..." May 09

Minneapolis Star Tribune "Chris Kluwe had fully prepared himself for the letdown. He knew for more than a week his days as the Vikings’ punter were over. So on Monday, in brief morning visits with General Manager Rick Spielman and coach Leslie Frazier, Kluwe simply absorbed his final moments at Winter Park with thick skin..." May 07

St. Paul Pioneer Press "Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe apparently has been released. Fittingly, he gave the word his way, on Twitter. "So long, Minnesota, and thanks for all the fish!" he wrote (@chriswarcraft) on Monday morning, May 6. "Thank you to all the fans, my teammates, and the Wilf family for the..." May 06

Detroit Free Press "Minnesota Vikings defensive end Lawrence Jackson would not have a problem lining up next to the NFL’s first openly gay player. He also believes players in the Lions’ locker room, where he spent the past three seasons, wouldn’t have a problem with a gay teammate. “I don’t think it would be a..." May 05

Foxsports.com "With so much focus on the draft in recent weeks, some of the current Vikings have kind of fallen through the cracks of media attention. One of those players is Jared Allen, who is recovering from shoulder surgery and entering the final year of his contract. Allen spoke this week with Sirius XM..." May 05

St. Paul Pioneer Press "Duron Carter dropped the first three passes he saw during the Vikings' rookie camp Friday, May 3. But it was fair to say nerves were at work. He was, after all, back where "I grew up half my life" and lining up at receiver in the same facility his father had forged a hall of fame career. The..." May 04

St. Paul Pioneer Press "The conversation that sold Leslie Frazier on Cordarrelle Patterson's ability to play in the NFL had little to do with football. The Vikings used one of their 30 player interviews at the NFL scouting combine on the wide receiver, and in that 15-minute meeting, Frazier tried to get a better sense..." May 04

St. Paul Pioneer Press "It was snowing on Jeff Locke's first day as a member of the Vikings, and it became clear quickly the punter wasn't going to be able to get any work done outside. So the fifth-round draft pick and special-teams coordinator Mike Priefer took a road trip. Locke spent the morning working out at the..." May 04

Pro Football Talk "Vikings defensive end Jared Allen believes that if the Vikings are going to be Super Bowl contenders, the leadership of the team has to come not from him, and not from Adrian Peterson, but from quarterback Christian Ponder. “I tell him all the time, you have to be the guy,” Allen said of Ponder..." May 03

Minneapolis Star Tribune "The Vikings have agreed to terms with 16 undrafted college free agents, including Iowa quarterback James Vandenberg and three wide receivers. The players will participate in a rookie minicamp this weekend at Winter Park, and will be joined by about 30 more college free agents who are unsigned..." May 01

ESPN.com "Wide receiver Duron Carter, who went undrafted, is following in his father's footsteps and will sign with the Minnesota Vikings, a source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. His father, Cris Carter, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2013 and an ESPN NFL analyst, played 12..." April 29

NFL.com "The Minnesota Vikings drafted a pair of linebackers on Day 3 of the 2013 NFL Draft, but they might not be done bolstering the middle of their defense. Judd Zulgad and Tom Pelissero of ESPNTwinCities.com think the Vikings could revisit adding longtime Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher to..." April 28

Minneapolis Star Tribune "Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman was feeling good enough about the defensive puzzle he’s assembling to share a lighter moment from the morning after the first round of the NFL draft saw him select a penetrating defensive tackle, a shutdown cornerback, an explosive receiver and, yes, no middle..." April 27

Pro Football Talk "The Vikings added competition for punter Chris Kluwe in Round Five, selecting UCLA’s Jeff Locke with the No. 155 pick. Locke averaged 43.3 yards on 77 punts in 2012, forcing 36 fair catches and having 34 attempts downed inside the opposition’s 20-yard-line. Moreover, he was exceptional on..." April 27

St. Paul Pioneer Press "The Vikings have agreed in principle to a one-year contract with defensive end Lawrence Jackson, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deal. The move adds a situational pass rusher to the team's defensive line, where both Jared Allen and Brian Robison are coming off shoulder..." April 26

St. Paul Pioneer Press "The Vikings found their defensive tackle of the future with the 23rd pick in the NFL draft Thursday, April 25, but they did it by landing a player who wasn't expected to be available so late. They drafted Florida's Sharrif Floyd with their first of two first-round picks, finding the player who..." April 26

St. Paul Pioneer Press "The Vikings again fortified their defense with the second pick of the first round Thursday, April 25, drafting Florida State cornerback Xavier Rhodes at No. 25. Two picks earlier, they drafted Florida's Sharrif Floyd. The Vikings needed a cornerback after releasing Antoine Winfield and..." April 26

St. Paul Pioneer Press "Calling himself "just a special player," Tennessee wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson did a self-evaluation of his skills after the Vikings used the 29th overall pick in the NFL draft Thursday night, April 25, to select him. "My strength is with the ball in my hands," Patterson said in a..." April 26

St. Paul Pioneer Press "Vikings general manager Rick Spielman is like the guy from MnDOT who drives a big truck filled with tar. He has many holes to fill. One of the biggest is at middle linebacker. The Vikings have done their due diligence on middle linebackers available in the three-day NFL draft that starts..." April 25

NFL.com ""Madden NFL 25" is partying like it's 1999. More than a decade after surprisingly announcing his retirement from the Detroit Lions, Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders won a national vote to appear on the cover of the latest edition of the Madden video game. Sanders tallied 58 percent of..." April 25

St. Paul Pioneer Press "About 53 hours remained until the NFL draft when Rick Spielman spoke to reporters Tuesday, April 23, so anything the Vikings general manager said was likely to be cloaked in gamesmanship. But "whether you believe me or not," Spielman said, his phone has been more active this week than it had..." April 24

St. Paul Pioneer Press "The future of the Vikings' defensive line might not look so unsettled in a few months. The team's top three defensive ends -- Jared Allen, Brian Robison and Everson Griffen -- are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents next spring, as is defensive tackle Kevin Williams. There is plenty of..." April 24

CBSSports.com "Because they do the on-location television coverage for the draft, the analysts who work for ESPN and NFL Network will know in advance who's being taken in the 2013 NFL Draft. But this year, those folks aren't going to spoil the picks on Twitter. Instead, they will "speculate" on who might be..." April 22

NFL.com "The 2013 NFL schedule release has been a lot of fun. Now it's time to return to our regularly scheduled draft rumor programming. NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reported Thursday night on "NFL Total Access" that the Minnesota Vikings are looking to trade up in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft. They..." April 19

St. Paul Pioneer Press "Here is the Vikings’ full 2013 schedule. I’ll be back with some thoughts in a few minutes: Sept. 8: at Detroit Lions, noon, Fox Sept. 15: at Chicago Bears, noon, Fox Sept. 22: vs. Cleveland Browns, noon, CBS Sept. 29: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (in London), noon, CBS Oct. 13: vs...." April 18

Yahoo! Sports "On the heels of regulators red-flagging a potential $18 million scam last week, multiple federal agencies are probing investments sold to NFL and NBA players, Yahoo! Sports has learned. According to multiple sources that spoke to Yahoo! Sports on the condition of anonymity, several professional..." April 17

NFL.com "Pat Summerall spent 10 years in the NFL as a player. He spent another 40 years describing the game he loved as one of the sport's iconic broadcasters. On Tuesday, Summerall passed away at the age of 82, Fox Sports spokesman Dan Bell confirmed to NFL.com and NFL Network. According to..." April 16

NFL.com "Fear not, friends, the NFL schedule will become public knowledge this week. League spokesman Greg Aiello announced Tuesday that the NFL's 2013 regular-season slate of games will be announced on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. This comes one day after the league told NFL.com's Around The League that..." April 16

NFL.com "Amid a sea of changes in Florham Park, N.J., the New York Jets are welcoming back a familiar face. NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday that outside linebacker Calvin Pace is returning to the team with a one-year contract, according to a source involved in the process. ESPN first reported..." April 16