Veteran guard Steve Hutchinson seems to know that his time in Minnesota may be up. That will likely be the case for a number of Vikings veterans.
Tom Pelissero of espn1500.com points to guard Anthony Herrera ($3,583,335) and cornerback Cedric Griffin ($4.65 million) as two other veteran players likely to get the boot this offseason.
If Hutchinson is also cut, that would give the Vikings roughly $23 million in cap space to play around with. The team is also likely to let veteran tight end Visanthe Shiancoe and linebacker E.J. Henderson walk via free agency. Defensive tackle Kevin Williams could be asked to restructure his deal.
Minnesota didn’t embrace the reality last season that the team was rebuilding. They signed Donovan McNabb in an effort to compete with the Packers and Bears, and instead Minnesota competed for the top pick in the draft.
Look for new G.M. Rick Spielman to admit the obvious with his moves this offseason. Minnesota is a team with a lot of roster holes that is a lot closer to the bottom of the league than competing for a title. It’s time to shed some roster deadweight and spend that cap room on young talent.