Backup center discussion

skinsfan_nn

PFT.com

BENTLEY TO MINNESOTA?
Posted by Mike Florio on June 11, 2008, 9:59 p.m.

I had a looong day with the law gig and an even longer night at the little league field, and I’m getting a chance right now to take a peek at the extremely fine pinch-hitting efforts of MDS and Josh Alper.

And, of course, I’m exercising my prerogative to chime in with my own half-assed musings regarding matters on which they’ve already written.

This first one isn’t a scoop, just semi-educated speculation. Center LeCharles Bentley, who was released earlier on Wednesday by the Browns, could be the next starting center of the Minnesota Vikings.

Before going any farther with this one, I need to be clear. It would be a huge mistake for the Vikings to dump Matt Birk in favor of Bentley. Bentley is damaged goods, and Birk is a bona fide leader in the locker room.

With that said, it’s fairly obvious that the Vikings are planning for life without Birk, who is signed through 2008. And the best way to make the transition would be to bring in Bentley right now, sign him to an incentive-heavy deal with per-game roster bonuses, and give him a chance via training camp and the preseason to make Birk and his $5.32 million salary an unnecessary luxury for 2008.

Here are the two other factors that have caused me to connect the dots in this specific way. First, Bentley’s agents surely had something else lined up before asking out of Cleveland. Otherwise, Bentley would be using the remainder of the offseason workouts in Cleveland to persuade another team to become interested. Remember this — Bentley’s agents, as legend has it, had a pre-free agency deal lined up with the Eagles, on which Bentley and his agents, as legend has it, reneged before signing with the Browns. There’s no reason to think that Bentley’s agents haven’t done the same thing in this specific case.

Second, though Vikings coach Brad Childress was no longer with the Eagles when the team made a run at Bentley, Childress had graduated to the Vikings not long before the 2006 free agency period opened. And that means that the Eagles had likely focused on Bentley before Childress left, and that Childress was privy to the internal reasoning that prompted the Eagles to decide that it would be prudent to pursue him.

Again, it’s all speculation. But at the same time, it makes sense. The Vikings would love to find the long-term successor to Birk, and Bentley (if healthy) gives them a very viable option.

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GMScud

Wow. In that case I'd REALLY like to have him. If he's healthy he could push Kendall for time this year, and he'd be a great insurance policy for Rabach. IMO it would make sense to make a move for him, albeit an incentive-laden one given the injuries. But his body is a young 28 since he basically hasn't played for two years.

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