After posting a couple of tweets over the past few days regarding the fact that he’s working out with free-agent running back Brian Westbrook, Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe made his first public pitch for his team to offer a contract to the former Eagles former do-it-all weapon.
“We work out five days a week, and I know he [definitely] has it in him,” Shiancoe said Friday in a chat on NFL.com, per Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “He’s indicated to me this is the first time he’s been able to workout at 100 percent without having to worry about previous injuries. He’s working hard, and it looks like he’s in camp shape. His route running would [definitely] help our offense.”
But there are reasons for Westbrook’s ongoing availability. Presumably, he wants more money than anyone has been willing to offer. Also, he has a knee that folks in Philly think won’t make it through a full season, and his struggles with concussions last year make it harder for any team to trust that he’ll be available on a consistent basis.
We think teams like the Redskins and Broncos expressed interest in Westbrook during offseason workouts in order to light a fire under the running backs already in the fold. It remains to be seen whether anyone takes a shot at a guy who arguably has taken too many shots to too many body parts over the course of his NFL career.