[CBFF] [Fwd: ALLEN, VIKES DEAL CLOSE?]

[Tom Shannon]

http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/04/18/allen-vikes-deal-close/


    ALLEN, VIKES DEAL CLOSE?
    <http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/04/18/allen-vikes-deal-close/>

Posted by Mike Florio on April 18, 2008, 3:20 p.m.

The guys at the /Minneapolis Star Tribune /write that Chiefs defensive 
end Jared Allen, the team’s franchise player, is at the Minnesota 
Vikings’ facility on Friday, that his agent is in attendance as well, 
and that a deal between the two teams is in the works.

“The latest we’re hearing is that an agreement with the Chiefs is close 
<http://ww3.startribune.com/vikingsblog/?p=1516> to being in place and 
this thing could get done quick,” writes Judd Zulgad.  The Tampa Bay 
Buccaneers also are reportedly interested in Allen.

The sticking point will then be the compensation for Allen.  As we wrote 
on Thursday night, the prospect of giving huge guaranteed money with no 
effective device under the CBA for getting it back should cause real 
concerns for the Vikings, given that Allen has two DUIs, a two-game 
suspension, and now owns . . . a bar.

And maybe we missed the press release announcing that the Vikings have 
been sold, because the last time we checked the franchise was owned by a 
man who insisted on “high standards, high morals and success 
<http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2191314>” from his football 
players.

Apparently, the “success” part of the equation becomes the focus when 
the player in question is one of the best defensive ends in the league.  
Thus, the same thinking that got receiver Cedrick Wilson fired by the 
Steelers while linebacker James Harrison got a pass for doing 
essentially the same thing apparently will apply in Minnesota, where 
Koren Robinson was canned and Jared Allen is now welcomed with open arms.

Maybe the explanation will be that Jared Allen drove his car after 
getting drunk at a baptism 
<http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/03/20/steelers-explain-wilson-release/>.  
Twice.