The Vikings worked out Jake Long today, as Chad Graff of the Pioneer Press tweets. Coach Mike Zimmer confirmed the workout to reporters at a press conference earlier today. 
Long, 31, could be a good pickup in the wake of Andre Smith‘s elbow injury. Smith was placed on IR earlier today, meaning that he will be out for at least eight weeks.
Long, a former No. 1 overall pick, spent the 2015 season with the Falcons after signing on midway through September. The veteran was hoping to have a bounce-back season in Atlanta, but he wound up only appearing in four games and he didn’t start in any of those contests. In the year prior, Long saw time in just seven games for the Rams last season due to a torn ACL. In the year before that, Long also tore his ACL in St. Louis.
In 2014, Long’s last season which could be measured by advanced metrics, Pro Football Focus ranked Long as just the No. 36 tackle out of 84 qualified players. In 2013, however, Long graded out as the seventh-best tackle in the league with a strong 22.5 overall score, based on PFF’s advanced metrics. Those numbers suggest that Long could still be a productive player if he can return to full health.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Just trade for Joe Thomas already.
The Browns want a 1st for Joe lol. Not going to happen. MAYBE a 2nd. A 3rd is realistic. If it were a few years ago, they could have gotten a 1st.
But hey, maybe Jake Long will be signed and will get to experience a wild card game? Then go home after the wild card loss and probably retire.
Agree about Joe Thomas. A first rounder is definitely a bit much, but I’m not opposed to a second round pick for him. Now I’m not saying I want my team to go out and send a 2nd round pick for him, but I think its a reasonable expectation. However, I also agree that a 3rd round pick is more realistic if say another mid round pick (present or future) was thrown in.
A shame about Long. Had unbelievable talent, and it’s all taken away from him now.
Joe thomas? no. Vikings would have to be desperate to give away another draft pick and thats not gonna happen. Long will fill their need perfectly. they will sign him.
I will say this. whatever Zimmer and Spielman decide to do here, I can promise that im not going to say anything about it. i sure as hell not betting aginst the 2 of them. the whole team could go on IR and they make players out of the cheerleaders and still field a winner
lol what? What have they won? A few games? Come on man. There’s plenty of reason to bet against both of them.
Don’t listen to him Skol. The Vikings FO has proven to be very good at locating and developing talent, and Zimmer has shown he can get the best out of almost everyone.
Simmer has had a good start to his HC career. No doubt about that. Good for him, he deserves it. The guy paid his dues and had some good, but not great, defenses before becoming HC. The Vikings defense this year looks better than any he has been DC for. But still, he has 0 playoff wins so far. It’s not his 3rd year but look how look it took some great head coaches to at least win a playoff game… Mike Tomlin, Mike McCarthy, Jim Harbaugh, John Harbaugh… it didn’t take them that long.
Spielman… He’s another story. He has been the GM since 2012 and has made many questions decisions and won absolutely nothing. Before that he was VP of player personnel. How many bad trades and picks did he make? A lot!
My take… Zimmer is the real deal. Not an elite HC by any stretch but maybe he will be. Spielman is a wannabe NFL exec with no success. I don’t understand how ppl like him win nothing ever, yet continue to be promoted while they continue to win nothing.
Regardless, congrats on the 5-0 start. Looking at your schedule, wow, you have an easy one. The Eagles are next and then… not really anyone. If you don’t win the division, the GM should be fired. That’s how easy your schedule is.
When the schedules first came out the Vikings had one of the most difficult schedules in the NFL and THE toughest in the NFC North. Now it’s the easiest? Okay pal.
Look at it. We all know schedule rankings are based on the previous year’s records. The teams they are playing are very poor. But good for them, anyone would LOVE that cake schedule. The Vikings didn’t choose to have an easy one, it just happened. Sometimes you get a tough one, sometimes an easy one. They happened to get an incredibly easy schedule. Here are there opponents in order for the rest of the season…
Eagles (will be tough test, good chance at losing)
Bears (easy win)
Lions (tough but should win)
Redskins (easy win)
Cardinals (easy win)
Lions (loss – doubt they can beat them twice)
Cowboys (tough test)
Jaguars (easy win)
Colts (easy win)
Packers (tough test)
Bears (easy win)
That’s a pretty attractive way to finish out the year for any team.
If Long checks out we should make the offer for the league min. Joe Thomas would be a great pick up at the right price. We have an extra 3rd and 4th next draft, but I expect we need to address WLB and OL at the very least, possibly RB.
A 3rd should get it done but the Mistake By The Lake thinks they should get a 1st or more. Long and Thomas are both Midwest guys so maybe they’ll both be happy there. Most guys, especially younger guys, want to be on the coasts. Long doesn’t have many choices though and Thomas probably just wants to have a winning season at least. Heck, Thomas would probably smile for a year straight to finish 9-7.
Sincerely the Browns are not trading Thomas for any less than a 2017 first round draft pick unless the Vikings are willing to give up a second and four in 2017 and their 2019 first round or something on that order. The price is steep for Thomas and I doubt they are willing to come down on it unless the Vikings add in a good player sorry to say.
And that’s why the Browns are the Browns, they’d rather get nothing asking an outrageous amount than get market value for a guy who absolutely will not be on the team when their competitive again (and with them it’s if they’re competitive again). Horrible franchise.
Well said!