FanHouse MadieuWilliams

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- In a game of inches, none may mean more to Mike Locksley than the ones he didn't take Sept. 20. The first-year New Mexico coach was all but out the door following a heated altercation with wide receivers coach J.B. Gerald, when, he said, he "sort of lost it."

Those inches may wind up costing him everything.

"If I had that moment back ... ," Locksley said to FanHouse in his office Tuesday night. "I was literally walking out the door because I knew I was getting heated and it kept going back and forth. I'm walking out the door and I look over and another word was said and it was set off."

In that moment, he grabbed Gerald, an assistant who had followed him halfway across the country from Illinois. An altercation ensued. When the dust cleared all that was certain was that Gerald had a split lip. And two coaching careers were beginning to unravel, the coda to an argument from earlier in the day, an argument with a decade of history.

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This is the kind of game the Vikings dreamed of when they were tweaking the roster during the offseason.

The Vikings won by seven thanks to free agent acquisitions Bernard Berrian and Madieu Williams with an assist from Jared Allen, who they picked up in an offseason trade.

Berrian, the high-priced free agent wide receiver, caught a 55-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage and snagged a 49-yard touchdown later in the first half. While it may have been the only two passes he caught all day, the threat of Berrian going deep was enough to back off the Texans safeties. In the first half, the Texans' focused on shutting down Adrian Peterson, and it worked as Peterson was held to 15 carries for 36 yards.

The Vikings have had a pretty successful off-season, signing wide receiver Bernard Berrian and safety Madieu Williams. But the recent news that Gus Frerotte will join the team as Tarvaris Jackson's backup has been met with "WTF?" incredulity from a relatively tolerant fanbase.

Generally speaking, the quarterback position is a sore spot for this team, and at the NFL owner's meeting, head coach Brad Childress talked about why Minnesota passed on Brady Quinn last year.

"I think people valued another position obviously more,'' Childress said. "There was some common thinking if he got past Miami there [at No. 9], as you looked at the teams that were after, they weren't really lined up to take a quarterback. That's probably the biggest reason.''

Not all that insightful, but it's not like a coach makes it a habit of spilling his guts to the media about the organization's draft philosophy. Fair enough. One reason the Vikings may have shied away from Quinn last year is because Jackson had just one season in the league. There's plenty of upside for a guy long on athleticism and short on experience. Plus, with other needs (like, say, running back), Minnesota could address the quarterback position at some point in the future.

Now, though, I wonder what the Vikings would do if they had the seventh-overall pick this April. There's a change Matt Ryan could be on the board, and while Jackson showed glimpses of ability in 2007, I think it would be much tougher for the organization to pass on a potential franchise quarterback twice in as many drafts.

Generally, the idea is to get better in the off-season. It doesn't always happen, of course -- salary-cap constraints, seller's free-agency market, poor front-office decisions -- but it's something to strive for.

The Vikings have taken strides to be more competitive in 2008 -- Bernard Berrian and Madieu Williams are the two most obvious examples -- but there's still some trepidation about the quarterback position. Tarvaris Jackson is penciled in as the starter but his career to date can best be described as inconsistent.

Ideally, Minnesota would be able to work a deal for a solid veteran back-up, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. Sage Rosenfels was apparently the front-runner, but the Texans, in no uncertain terms, ain't interested.

Logically, the Vikings are turning to, well, just keep reading:

With the Houston Texans apparently intent on keeping QB Sage Rosenfels, indications are strong this morning that the Vikings are nearing an agreement with free agent QB Gus Frerotte.

Oh, yeah, feel the Gus-mentum. Or something equally as lame. It's hard to say just how bad Frerotte is because he played on a hapless Rams team last year, but according to Football Outsiders, he finished 46th among 49 quarterbacks in terms of value per play (Jackson was 35th).

Maybe Frerotte would be marginally better behind Minnesota's offensive line, but here's the question: is he any better than Brooks Bollinger? If not, why even sign him?

All Friday afternoon there was glee over the Bengals acquiring Shaun Rogers from the Lions for a 3rd and 5th round pick. I live in the 'Nati area and fans were shocked ... completely shocked ... that the team did anything this drastic to improve the roster. Sure, it is only Shaun Rogers, but that was quite a move for a team that really takes the word "free" in "free agency" to heart.

Of course, a few hours later came word that the trade was voided by the league and that Rogers would be sent to the rival Cleveland Browns. Ouch! Not only did the trade not go through, but he got dealt inside the division.

It is par for the course in Cincinnati. It has been about 24 hours later and no one in the Bengals organization has said much of anything about any of this. Local radio host Lance McAlister was a little bent about the silence from the organization:

A Bengals trade dominates the airwaves Friday...and has the fanbase excited. Then it all falls apart and the player goes to a division rival. Fans wonder. Fans fume. Fans blame the Bengals for botching it. It's noon Saturday and the Bengals have yet to say anything? Hey Bengals, way to get out in front of the story and frame it to your advantage. Typical.

No one knows what in the world happened to screw up the deal. Something about wording in the deal and salary cap or something. Cincy has a ton of salary cap room ... so this makes no sense.

The Minnesota Vikings and safety Madieu Williams have come to a contract agreement.

The four-year veteran safety has agreed on parameters on a six-year contract with the Minnesota Vikings and is on a plane now headed to Minneapolis, agent Kenny Zuckerman said late this morning.

The contract with worth a total of $33 million.

The Vikings current defensive coordinator is Leslie Frazer. Frazer was the defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals ... the team Williams has played for since his rookie season of 2004 ... in 2003-2004. Madieu respects Frazer as a coach and gave the team an advantage in signing him.

As for the Bengals, they kinda/sorta wanted Madieu back because of his experience. Cincy has their starting secondary in place (Marvin White, Chinedum Ndukwe), but both just completed their first NFL seasons. What could be interesting is what happens to veteran safety Dexter Jackson, who was though to become a salary cap casulty.

It looks like Bengals' defensive end Justin Smith is headed for free agency. Cincinnati franchised their fourth-overall selection of the 2001 draft last season -- at a cost of $8.6 million -- but doesn't seem likely to do so again. For starters, that's a lot of money to devote to one position, particularly when the Bengals' defense has plenty of holes.

So now the question becomes: where will Smith sign this off-season? The Dayton Daily News' Carlos Holmes thinks the Steelers could be a potential destination:

Smith would draw some interest on the open market and the one team who could come calling is Pittsburgh Steelers. I'm told that Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau is a big fan of Smith and has always thought that he would be a better pass-rusher in a 3-4 defense which they run in Blitzburgh.

I'm not surprised LeBeau's a fan -- he drafted the guy -- but I'm pretty certain it still ain't happening. First, Smith is going to want to be paid like one of the league's best defensive ends. Second, the Steelers don't need a starter along the defensive line; they need depth.