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Now that the season is over, we can focus on the draft and free agency. LaRon Landry has a contract that is expiring this year. Assuming he isn’t re-signed by the Redskins, do you see the Vikings making a move for him this offseason? Now the draft, I was really intrigued by what you said about trading back to the #4 spot or the #6 spot in order to acquire more picks. What kind of price would a team like the Redskins pay to move up two-to-three spots in the draft? And lastly, what do you think of us drafting Tommy Streeter. He is a WR out of Miami who is 6-5 and 215 pounds. With our pick, we could take him ideally in the beginning of the 3rd round. Do you see this as a possibility?
-- Martin G
Of all the defensive players scheduled to be unrestricted free agents (UFA), Landry might be my top choice. “Dirty 30” is his nickname because he wears jersey #30 and because of his aggressive style of play. Landry has a tremendous blend of speed and power, which allows him to cover a lot of ground in the secondary and also play close to the line of scrimmage to support the run. Landry is also still a young player at age 27, but he has dealt with injuries during his NFL career, having missed one game in 2009 and 15 games over the past two seasons. I don’t know how the Vikings personnel department and coaches feel about Landry, but I do believe there’s a need to upgrade in the secondary and Landry would make the Vikings defense better the instant he arrived in Minnesota.
It’s hard to say what the Vikings could get for trading back right now for a variety of factors. We don’t know which underclassmen will declare for the draft, we don’t know what each teams needs will be during the draft because we’ll haven’t gone through free agency yet, and we don’t know which player the teams trying to move up to our spot are targeting. If, for instance, a couple of teams are looking to move up into our spot to acquire a quarterback, then I think the #3 pick is worth more than if a couple teams were trying to move up to acquire a player at a different position. Maybe I’m wrong on that, but I believe a team should pay a premium for moving up, and an extra premium for moving up to acquire a player who the most important position on the field. To give you a rough idea, though, the trade value chart says that for moving back from #3 to #4 a team can get a mid 2nd-round pick, while moving back three spots to #6 can net a late 1st-round pick.
As for Streeter, I can’t say I know much about him right now. Once the draft approaches, I’ll gain a better knowledge of the draft-eligible players and how they could impact the Vikings. But for now, I can’t really say much other than selecting a pair of wide receivers in this year’s draft, specifically in the middle rounds, is something I’d like to see the Vikings accomplish.
I saw earlier this week in that someone says the Vikings should go after wide receiver DeSean Jackson. Now, is he a free agent this year, and what do you think the chances are of him becoming a Viking next season since the Vikings definitely need a deep threat down the field?
-- Mike
Jackson certainly possesses some traits that would make him an attractive option in free agency for teams looking to add talent at wide receiver. I’m not sure that he’s the right fit for the Vikings, though. With the situation at quarterback and with the offense the Vikings run, I think the team would be better-served to pursue a field-stretching wide receiver with more size. Vertical threats come in all different shapes and sizes, just look at examples such as Vincent Jackson (6-5, 230 pounds) and Carolina’s Steve Smith (5-9, 185 pounds). Both of those players are excellent field-stretching wide receivers, and Jackson dwarfs Smith in terms of height and weight. So I understand that a vertical threat doesn’t need to be tall, but I also believe that with the inexperience we have at quarterback and with 
What are the areas the Vikings plan to address in the upcoming draft? Who are some potential players they are looking at?
-- Chad B.
At this point the Vikings have a full complement of selections for the draft in April, so all areas of the team are subject to being addressed. We’ll have a better idea of what positions the Vikings may look to address in the early stages of the draft once we go through free agency. Many times, teams choose to address certain areas of the team in free agency, and then they’ll address other areas of the team with early draft selections. From a general standpoint, though, watch for the Vikings to address the offensive line, secondary and wide receiver in the draft.
