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Vikes Not Inclined To Match Burleson Offer
The early word out of Minnesota regarding the tit-for-tat offer sheet signed by Vikings receiver Nate Burleson with the Seahawks on Friday is that the Vikings will not match the offer.
A league source tells us that Burleson, a restricted free agent, was tendered at the lowest possible level because the Vikings decided that they wouldn't mind getting a third-round draft pick in lieu of keeping him. Implicit in that sentiment is a recognition by the Vikings that, if Burleson had been tendered at a higher level, another team would not have been inclined to give up a first-round pick to secure his services.
It remains to be seen whether the NFL and/or the Vikings challenge the poison pill provisions contained in the offer, not in an effort to enable the Vikings to match what in reality amounts to a four-year, $14 million deal, but to put a lid on the potential expansion of the use of ludicrous terms in offer sheets aimed at making the entire deal guaranteed for the player's original team, if the offer is matched.
It'll be hard, of course, for the Vikings to argue such a contention with a straight face, since Minnesota used a similar device in securing guard Steve Hutchinson from the Seahawks. In the end, however, the Seahawks abandoned their argument that the offer to Hutchinson violated the CBA, relying instead upon a restructuring of the Walter Jones contract in an effort to avoid the triggering of the guarantee. So the broader argument could now be advanced in an effort to block an easy way to ensure that no offer sheet will ever be matched.
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03-26-2006, 10:35 AM
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