Sando: The Vikings' Sidney Rice And The NFC West

[r8rh8rmike]

The Vikings' Sidney Rice and the NFC West
February 28, 2011 By Mike Sando

One of the NFL's best young receivers, Sidney Rice, expects to hit the market if and when free agency begins.

Let's roll out the NFC West welcoming mat, shall we?

In a normal NFL offseason, teams would sign free agents before the draft, crossing off needs as they positioned themselves to select the best players available with less regard for position.

Assuming his surgically repaired hip checks out, Sidney Rice will be a highly sought after free agent.The current labor mess threatens to disrupt the usual order of business. That could make it tougher for Rice and other projected free agents to maximize their value.

We can still dream, and if I were running the Seattle Seahawks or St. Louis Rams, the 24-year-old Rice would rank high on my list of targets. But first I'd want team doctors to fully assess the hip injury that required surgery and affected Rice last season. Without that injury, the Vikings presumably would have re-signed Rice by now or considered naming him their franchise player, a designation they used for linebacker Chad Greenway.

Rice caught 83 passes for 1,312 yards and eight touchdowns during the 2009 season. He was looking like the NFL's next great wideout until the hip injury struck during the NFC title game. Rice played only six games in 2010, catching 17 passes for 280 yards and two scores.

Seattle and St. Louis make the most sense among NFC West suitors because, unlike Arizona and San Francisco, neither team has invested heavily in the receiver position. The Seahawks also have ties to Rice now that former Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell has taken the same job in Seattle.

St. Louis should stand as an attractive landing spot for any receiver now that Sam Bradford is settled in at quarterback there. The team already has a top-notch running back and key building blocks on the offensive line.

If Rice checked out medically, adding him would allow the Rams to more comfortably focus on other positions in the draft. But if the hip remained a concern, the Rams would have to think twice about adding another surgically repaired wideout to a collection already featuring Donnie Avery, Mark Clayton and Danario Alexander.

[MACD]

Rice, Jones, and Clayton is an awesome thought.

[C-Mob 71]

Rice, Jones, and Clayton is an awesome thought.

Not to mention Avery, Amendola, and DX.

Holy smokes we are talking a legit Greatest Show on Turf Part 2.

[TekeRam]

Rice, Jones, Clayton, Amendola, Avery and DX does sound great! Just as long as a couple of them feel like playing corner or safety as well. The Rams are not one position away from seriously contending, and we need an upgraded defense badly. They outplayed themselves last year, but we have a much tougher schedule this year, and we need talent on that side of the ball too.

I don't care what back channels we have to use, but if BD and Spags and McD want a free agent wideout, they better be making that known to the player, somehow someway. And they better get that player interested in the Rams to the point that it's an easy sign once free agency opens up. And then, we CAN'T use our 14th pick on another freaking receiver. We need a number one receiver, one. We already have a wonderful team of #2's. Hell, with Clayton and Avery healthy, I'm not all that convinced we need a big time number one if we have a better run game to depend upon. And that requires OG's, not a WR...

[TekeRam]

P.S. As long as Rice checks out and has some instant chemistry with Sam, then I'm all for picking him up so we can go defense in a deep defensive first round.

[rams_man13]

I think we are going to need to either look at a FA or trade down for second tier WR prospects because I honestly believe Jones vaulted himself into the top 10 and just under AJ Green with his combine (I have him at 6 to the Browns).

Rice as a FA with Paea (DT, Oregon St.) in the first and Bruce Carter (OLB, N. Carolina) in the second would make me a very happy man.