First Day Of Tampering

By this time last year we had the details of Ndamukong Suh's ridiculously large contract with the Miami Dolphins. That done deal started a flood of done deals between other teams and other players. Deals that weren't supposed to completed during the window of tampering. Legal or otherwise. That abuse of this pre-free agency window forced the NFL to change some things. The negotiating window was shortened to two days and a warning was sent to all teams that deals can not be completed until Wednesday. After the first day of Tampering 2016 it seems that the teams are behaving. There were many reports throughout the day of teams contacting player representatives but no reports of deals. The Oakland Raiders making a "strong push" to sign Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman Kelechi Osemele was the most aggressive report of the day. It became even more aggressive when it was later reported that the Minnesota Vikings were "surging" in the chase for Osemele.

The only real activity involved the Philadelphia Eagles ridding themselves of the mistakes that Chip Kelly made last year. The new Eagles regime agreed to trade cornerback Byron Maxwell and linebacker Kiko Alonso to the Miami Dolphins. Before the dust of that deal cleared the Eagles agreed to trade running back DeMarco Murray to the Tennessee Titans. Neither trade is official until Wednesday at 4 PM ET. The Titans could be fun a team with Murray running and Marcus Mariota throwing.

The Minnesota Vikings were fairly busy on a day that they couldn't anything but talk.

Other than the fierce Osemele race, if there was a defensive free agent that played for the Cincinnati Bengals the Vikings probably contacted his agent.

One or more reports had the Vikings reaching out to:

1. Safety Reggie Nelson
2. Linebacker Vincent Rey
3. Safety George Iloka
4. Tackle Mitchell Schwartz
5. Corner Adam Jones
6. Receiver Jermaine Kearse

Nelson, Rey, Iloka, and Jones all played for Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer in Cincinnati. It's clear that the Vikings want to improve the talent at the safety spot next to rising star Harrison Smith and Zimmer knows that either Nelson or Iloka can do that. Age is the biggest difference between the two. Iloka, 26, is a better long term solution than Nelson, 32. Because of that Iloka will probably draw more attention and command a larger salary. Because of that Nelson might be more appealing to the Vikings. Cost is critical since Smith is due for a significant contract extension some time this offseason. The Vikings probably have only so many dollars to offer another safety. Nelson would also be an excellent stop gap player while promising youngsters Anthony Harris and/or Antone Exum gain experience in a defensive system that former Bengals players already know.

I'd be curious to see what Zimmer would have in mind with Rey if the interest is real. Middle linebacker or outside or both? And then what that does to possibly bringing Chad Greenway back.

Schwartz is a terrific talent but I would assume that the Vikings interest in him was more probing than real. I don't think that they can afford the contract that Schwartz will eventually get. Although they are aggressively pursuing Osemele. Maybe Schwartz would be the alternative if the Osemele bidding gets too high.

Jones would make for a talented and interesting cornerback group. Especially if they re-sign Terrence Newman. A team can't have enough talented corners.

Kearse would be an excellent addition. Especially if the Vikings and Mike Wallace can't come to an agreement on a reduced contract. If  an agreement can't be reached Wallace will most likely be released.

Perhaps the money saved from letting Wallace go is what's driving the pursuit of Osemele.

It will be interesting to see if all 32 teams will be as well-behaved today as they seemed to be yesterday.