If AP is available

[cnhnyy]

Vikings are not going anywhere, especially in a division with Packers, bears and lions. AP has about 2-3 year shelf life left and can play longer if he carries less in an offense with Romo/Bryant/Witten/Williams. If, this is a big IF, AP is available for trade, what are you willing to give up?

 

[03EBZ06]

Nothing, he will be 29 next season has taken heavy load in his career and not sure what he has left. Also he is way too expensive ($14.4 Mil in 2014) and the team has to re-sign Bryant and Bailey, has to give major consideration on Hatcher work something out to keep him on the team and the team already has to restructure several players to get under salary cap and to sign some free agents, but not one player who will be commanding 14.4 mil salary.

 

[65fastback2plus2]

minus his contract, id give a second for him. cant afford him tho

 

[Zordon]

nothing.

there are some good running backs coming out the next few years. texas has a few. georgia has a few. so does florida, florida state, miami, etc. we need to hit on one in the draft.

 

[Section446]

I'd stay away from AP at this point. He's getting too close to that death sentence of an age for RB's (30). For what we'd have to give up for him, I feel like we could go after someone younger, or simply spend a pick or two on a quality rookie RB.

 

[Bowdown27]

Love ap but it's hard to ignore his age and money. Can't happen

 

[TheRomoSexual]

Eh, I have a policy against trading for players with large contracts. It's one thing to trade for someone on his rookie contract, it's another to trade valuable picks for a guy AND take on a big salary cap hit.

I think RB should be addressed in the draft. I'd love to land someone like Seastruck in the second (though he probably won't be available there).

 

[big dog cowboy]

Not interested. Could he help? Absolutely. Not saying he wouldn't. The compensation the Vikings want is more than I want to invest at the RB spot and his contract would KILL us.

 

[Section446]

Love ap but it's hard to ignore his age and money. Can't happen

Another thing, he hasn't been incredibly productive this season.

 

[kevm3]

nothing. You don't win in this league by tying up massive amounts of money in runningbacks... Having a solid runningback is enough... so getting AD would saddle us with a massive contract when that money can be better spent in other positions.

 

[landroverking]

I too think he has his best years behind him.

 

[Future]

Another thing, he hasn't been incredibly productive this season.

Until last night he was on pace to have more yards and TDs than last year...

 

[davey999]

Rule #1. Do not overpay or overdraft at Running Back. Bottom line.

 

[hutch1254]

Not that we could afford it but here's another way to look at this.

We probably have a 2 to 3 year window with the current core. We have a good chance to take the division this year. AP is from a different planet but probably has that same 2 to 3 year window skill wise. Do you make the trade and buy in to win now in this window? knowing that in 3 years you're probably looking at a large turnover and rebuild? If we win the division this year look at what you face in the playoffs. A game at home maybe but an away trip to places like GB, NO, SEA, SF. Does adding AP take you to another level to win at those places this year and probably over the next 2 or 3? Not to mention enhancing your chances of winning the division consistently in that same window.

As cool as it would be to see AP on this team it is not happening but the above scenario is another angle to look at it from.

 

[jrumann59]

This is not the 90's or early 2000's you do not need an all world running attack. If you look at the recent teams with HoF caliber runners they have had poor to decent QB play the only exception being SD with Rivers and LT. All of the recent SB winners had good backs but not HoF caliber backs, but they all did have solid QB play. The NFL is now a QB league.

 

[cnhnyy]

Not that we could afford it but here's another way to look at this.

We probably have a 2 to 3 year window with the current core. We have a good chance to take the division this year. AP is from a different planet but probably has that same 2 to 3 year window skill wise. Do you make the trade and buy in to win now in this window? knowing that in 3 years you're probably looking at a large turnover and rebuild? If we win the division this year look at what you face in the playoffs. A game at home maybe but an away trip to places like GB, NO, SEA, SF. Does adding AP take you to another level to win at those places this year and probably over the next 2 or 3? Not to mention enhancing your chances of winning the division consistently in that same window.

As cool as it would be to see AP on this team it is not happening but the above scenario is another angle to look at it from.

This is exactly what I was thinking. The window for Romo/Witten/Ware to win SB is the next two years and we badly need a reliable and great RB to give Romo and our defense a break. We can not wait for a new RB from next year draft.

I really do not think we will win in SF, seattle, GB or NO without a great running game. Murray is Miles Austin of RB and we can not really rely on him.

 

[PoetTree]

Until last night he was on pace to have more yards and TDs than last year...

No, he wasn't. He's well behind last year's pace...

 

[Future]

No, he wasn't. He's well behind last year's pace...

They showed it before the game last night...through 5 games he had more yards, TDs, and 100-yard games

 

[Galian Beast]

The question is can you afford him going forward. And to an extent you can.

He is signed through 2017, and he doesn't really have a signing bonus issue, so the vikings can easily trade him.

You take much of his 2013 and 2014 salaries and you convert it to signing bonus. Basically you throw all of his money into 2016 and 2017, and you basically get AP for a 3 year deal which is pretty affordable.

Basically boils down to 5 years 66.15 million, which is 13 million a year with heavy back loading. Anyone who tells you that we couldn't afford AP really isn't doing the math. Let me break it down for you in terms of restructuring his contract.

2013, you restructure his contract to 840k that way he fits under the cap. That gives you 10.41 in signing bonus over 5 years. His cap hit for this year would be 2.9 million.

2014? Well in 2014 you would owe him 11.75 in base salary + the 2.082 million in bonus. This is 13.832 million. That's a lot of money. Can't afford it right? Well wrong. We restructure his contract again. This makes his base salary 855k. You take 11.75 million and divide it by 4. 2.9375 million + 855k + 2.082 million. He costs you 5.8745 million. Now you're in 2015. His contract is 12.75 million + 2.082 million + 2.9375 million. You take the 12.75 million and you reduce it to let's say 860k (not sure what the minimum would be in 2015). 11.89 million divided by 3 is 3.96 million + 860k + 2.082 million + 2.9375 million which is 9.84 million. That sounds pretty high, but for an MVP caliber player who would just be hitting 30 it isn't terrible.

In 2016 you could try to work something out with his salary, or you could cut him.

Cutting him would cost 2.082 (2) + 2.9375 (2) + 3.96 (2) = 17 million in dead space, which you would spread over the course of two years, which would be 9 million a year in dead money.

So ultimately that is the question you would have to ask yourself. Is a couple years with 9 million in dead money (hopefully with a larger cap in those years) worth the chance to win super bowls in 2013, 2014, and 2015...

I would say yes. We just paid Anthony Spencer 10 million to do nothing this year. And he is no AP.

My question would be how much would it cost to get him in a trade. And there I would probably have a problem. If it was just a single 1st round draft pick, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

 

[jday]

Vikings are not going anywhere, especially in a division with Packers, bears and lions. AP has about 2-3 year shelf life left and can play longer if he carries less in an offense with Romo/Bryant/Witten/Williams. If, this is a big IF, AP is available for trade, what are you willing to give up?

I'm with the 'nothing' crowd. The Cowboys are in what I would desribe as a manageable cap hell. AP makes it an unmanageable cap hell, meaning that the Cowboys would likely have to release other key players just to make room for AP. And I really don't think an aging HB is the guy you want to do that for. AP 5 to 6 years ago and maybe I'd be willing to talk, but I'm pretty sure the Vikings would not be willing talk under those circumstances.