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Kevin Williams - DL - Free Agent

Free agent DT Kevin Williams said he's recently had conversations with the Vikings.

Williams has visited the Giants, Seahawks, and Patriots since free agency kicked off three months ago. The soon-to-be 34-year-old has pondered retirement but admits he wants to continue his career. He hopes to have a deal before training camp. The Vikings could use some depth behind Linval Joseph and company.
Source: Sirius XM NFL Radio

dead_poet wrote:Kevin Williams - DL - Free Agent

Free agent DT Kevin Williams said he's recently had conversations with the Vikings.

Williams has visited the Giants, Seahawks, and Patriots since free agency kicked off three months ago. The soon-to-be 34-year-old has pondered retirement but admits he wants to continue his career. He hopes to have a deal before training camp. The Vikings could use some depth behind Linval Joseph and company.

Huge understatement. Who is "and company" after Joseph and Floyd? Fred Evans and Tom Johnson???

80 PurplePride 84 wrote: As much as I love Winfield he was not the difference between playoffs and the 8th overall pick. You gotta remember this was 36 year old Winfield who's coverage skills were in decline for a few years. .

Where is this myth coming from?

Winfield was by far our best corner the year before he retired and may have been our single best defensive player. It showed once he was gone.

Eli wrote: Huge understatement. Who is "and company" after Joseph and Floyd? Fred Evans and Tom Johnson???

This would make my offseason. I would love to see him back!

Please no, just give some young guys the snaps and practice time, and see if we have anything with them.

PurpleMustReign wrote:This would make my offseason. I would love to see him back!

Agreed!

Demi wrote:Please no, just give some young guys the snaps and practice time, and see if we have anything with them.

I have to agree with this. No more K-Will. Time to move on and think about the future. We have plenty of younger guys who are trying to prove themselves Williams will just be holding this youth movement back.

King James wrote: I have to agree with this. No more K-Will. Time to move on and think about the future. We have plenty of younger guys who are trying to prove themselves Williams will just be holding this youth movement back.

...or maybe the best players should be on the field...young or old? Maybe?

Funkytown wrote: ...or maybe the best players should be on the field...young or old? Maybe?

K-Will is clearly not the best player anymore. Or else he would still be on the team.

But y'all are worried he'd take an opportunity from some of the younger guys? Do we not trust this coaching staff to play the best players? I'm all for quality depth and competition. If these "young" guys can't beat out Williams, then maybe they should sit until they can? If Williams gives this team solid depth, and makes us better, why not? What's the point in assuming the young guys are better? Make them prove it. What are you afraid of?

What you fail to realize is that more players make it harder to evaluate. It's not like these guys all share the same amount of reps in practice. We've pretty much seen what we can get out of Williams. If the team felt like it was close to building a super bowl team then yeah you go with the vet. At this point we are rebuilding. To rebuild you need reps, lots of reps. Those reps will be taken away if K-Will just comes backs in out of the blue. Not because he may be better but more players at a position then the harder it is to decide who gets how many amount of reps. But you just don't go from being a starter to a depth guy on the same team at his age. Once you can't start any longer, it's time to replace him.

Haven't we learn our lesson enough from riding old players until the wheels completely falls off. Last year our D-Line was horrible, it's not K-Wills fault entirely but he played a part in that mediocre performance. If K-Will gets resigned that will be ultimately on Spielman and not the coaches. Unless Zimmer makes a push to get another look at K-Will, which I doubt he will, we probably won't see him again.

Demi wrote:Please no, just give some young guys the snaps and practice time, and see if we have anything with them.

Please. I just wish the front office would stop listening to Demi.

King James wrote:What you fail to realize is that more players make it harder to evaluate. It's not like these guys all share the same amount of reps in practice. We've pretty much seen what we can get out of Williams. If the team felt like it was close to building a super bowl team then yeah you go with the vet. At this point we are rebuilding. To rebuild you need reps, lots of reps. Those reps will be taken away if K-Will just comes backs in out of the blue. Not because he may be better but more players at a position then the harder it is to decide who gets how many amount of reps. But you just don't go from being a starter to a depth guy on the same team at his age. Once you can't start any longer, it's time to replace him.

Haven't we learn our lesson enough from riding old players until the wheels completely falls off. Last year our D-Line was horrible, it's not K-Wills fault entirely but he played a part in that mediocre performance. If K-Will gets resigned that will be ultimately on Spielman and not the coaches. Unless Zimmer makes a push to get another look at K-Will, which I doubt he will, we probably won't see him again.

I guess I didn't learn that lesson. What old guys did we ride until the wheels fell off? (And don't say Favre, because that is cheap as ....). Is that the norm for us? I disagree.

And who are all these potential studs at DT who can't afford to lose precious reps? I must've missed that, too.

Eli wrote: Huge understatement. Who is "and company" after Joseph and Floyd? Fred Evans and Tom Johnson???

Ooooo. These guys? Now it makes sense.

Yes, teams like the Giants, Seahawks, and Patriots can be interested, but we shouldn't even bother entertaining the idea. We are set!

I'm not even saying signing Williams is the best choice, but the idea of just looking past him because he is suddenly "too old" is absurd.

If the front office ends up getting Williams at a bargain price he'd be a valuable backup, I think. Not having to actually start might allow him to play well when he does have to come in. I don't see a problem with it.