Did the Vikings cut Kluwe because of what he says?

[Mothman]

I chose "Honestly don't know, could be any of the above. " It seemed like the only honest answer.

[PurpleJarl]

This was all about the numbers. This is the way I look at it. Keep everything the same, and slightly improve his numbers last year to put him in a solid position, I would still not be shocked by this move from the vikings. Its a sound move financially and improvement potential wise. That said, Kluwe didn't do himself any favors if he is trying to prove the vikings cut him for other reasons (I am not even sure if he is, it just seems like a lot of noise from his fan both football and non football) by not being one of the best last year. Hope he finds a fit somewhere though, he is entertaining and I love hearing what he has to say both football and non football related.

[dead_poet]

Its a sound move financially

I'm curious how much this will save. He really wasn't making a lot.

[Eli]

Yes and no.

[jeg067]

I'm curious how much this will save. He really wasn't making a lot.

1.45 $M, so I guess they're saving about 1 $M.

[Funkytown]

Was there more to this than just replacing a veteran with a young guy?

I believe so. Yes. Can we prove it? No.

All we can do now is move forward and hope this new guy is as great as the Vikes think he is. He better be!

[headless_norseman]

I'm curious how much this will save. He really wasn't making a lot.

They save quite a bit with a rookie punter and the production from the new guy should be that much better.

[glg]

The cap space is minimal. $1M is less than 1% of the cap. Brzezinski is one of the best in the business at cap management, so while everything helps, it's just not that big a deal.

My vote is yes, but to be clear, I'm not saying it's based on his opinions per se, but rather that he dares to have an opinion. ie, he's not being cut for what he believes in, but because he was vocal about it. I would guess this largely comes from Priefer, who seems to have the very common NFL coach attitude that players are children who should be seen and not heard. It's very common, very arrogant, and very pervasive.

[BGM]

The cap space is minimal. $1M is less than 1% of the cap. Brzezinski is one of the best in the business at cap management, so while everything helps, it's just not that big a deal.

My vote is yes, but to be clear, I'm not saying it's based on his opinions per se, but rather that he dares to have an opinion. ie, he's not being cut for what he believes in, but because he was vocal about it. I would guess this largely comes from Priefer, who seems to have the very common NFL coach attitude that players are children who should be seen and not heard. It's very common, very arrogant, and very pervasive.

This is my thought too, and why I voted yes as well. Kluwe is still a very good punter, despite the statistics that show him as merely average. It seems like the writing was on the wall since the Ray Guy controversy. The thing is, I do know people who watched the Vikings simply because they liked Kluwe and his opinions. It was like he was the anti-jock, or at least a refreshing change of pace from the machismo-testosterone attitude that permeates the NFL. But, spilled milk...

[PurpleJarl]

The cap space is minimal. $1M is less than 1% of the cap. Brzezinski is one of the best in the business at cap management, so while everything helps, it's just not that big a deal.

My vote is yes, but to be clear, I'm not saying it's based on his opinions per se, but rather that he dares to have an opinion. ie, he's not being cut for what he believes in, but because he was vocal about it. I would guess this largely comes from Priefer, who seems to have the very common NFL coach attitude that players are children who should be seen and not heard. It's very common, very arrogant, and very pervasive.

I am not sure I understand the last two parts? Assuming that he was in fact canned cause of what he said, why is it bad to expect him to keep a low profile? despite what Kluwe says or anyone else, he is a 24/7 representative of the MN Vikings. People don't read what he says and go, "Kluwe, oh yeah, hes in that one band!" or "Thats that one dude who plays World of Warcraft and I guess does something else with a sport?!" He is known as the outspoken Punter for the MN Vikings. That isn't to say that he "owes" them something but if my employer told me to knock something off because it was making my bosses uncomfortable for any reason I would either A) knock it off, or B) quit. Not continue to do it and sorta hope they never followed up in anyway. I hope that he wasn't "fired" for being opinionated and luckily there is no evidence to support that other then that it all happened in the same calendar year. Again there is no evidence to suggest he was fired for his opinion but weak circumstantial evidence and there is little evidence to support the argument that Preifer was just throwing his big balls around. Heck, there is more evidence to support him being removed for insubordination (Not that there is much just more than anything else.) then there is in regards to the other theories. I just am surprised by the reaction on here. Read some peoples posts you would think he was canned after the best year by a punter ever at a presser where spielman and Zygi were wearing "I hate f*g" shirts.

[glg]

why is it bad to expect him to keep a low profile?

If you can ask that question with a straight face, then we have very different views of the world.

[Mercy Percy]

I chose his talking and his punting. Each person has different views and if you are in a different party and have different views than kluwe than you arent going to like him as much and want to watch the vikings/ have problems with him. Like someone early said he was creating distractions almost like a Tebow or T.O we have freedom of speech and they can talk all the want but its the distraction they dont like.

[PurpleJarl]

If you can ask that question with a straight face, then we have very different views of the world.

Its possible, but I would probably just say this is a case of differing views of what an employer in a high exposure fan based job market can expect of their employees. To try and make this into some sorta of civil rights issue is a disservice to civil rights issues.

[PurpleJarl]

To be clear; if it were to come out that he was fired due to what he was saying off the field I would be disgusted and disappointed in the Vikings organization. That would be in my opinion, bad. But also not wrong. There is no problem with a private "company" firing an "employee" for not doing what the Boss wants. Some people are able to keep their opinions on the DL and some aren't, neither are "right". I guess, I just wonder why Kluwe hasn't said anything yet. Hasn't he been pretty much exclusively focusing on the statistical aspect of his game? Unless I missed something, I haven't heard of him calling out the Vikings FO for letting him go over the comments and you have to believe if he had some kind of inkling with a bit of proof he would have written one of his funny articles about it. Instead you have a bunch of 3rd parties "muck raking" if you will to try and dredge up a story.

[PurpleHalo]

The cap space is minimal. $1M is less than 1% of the cap. Brzezinski is one of the best in the business at cap management, so while everything helps, it's just not that big a deal.

My vote is yes, but to be clear, I'm not saying it's based on his opinions per se, but rather that he dares to have an opinion. ie, he's not being cut for what he believes in, but because he was vocal about it. I would guess this largely comes from Priefer, who seems to have the very common NFL coach attitude that players are children who should be seen and not heard. It's very common, very arrogant, and very pervasive.

More important than total cap, is how it measures against the available cap, which I would believe is much more than 1% without knowing that exact figure.