FanHouse MattBirk

Now that Matt Birk has chosen the Ravens, Minnesota has to move on to Plan B. But the good news is that this is a very good year to be trying to replace a center.

The Vikings had been planning for the possibility of losing Birk since before the 2008 season. They already have 2008 sixth-round pick John Sullivan as a potential replacement and theoretically guard Anthony Herrera could also slide over and play center, but if the Vikings want to bring in some competition, the 2009 draft class is one of the best classes for centers in years.

In the Sporting News Top 99 draft prospects (released today at Sporting News Today), four centers are listed among the Top 99 prospects and ESPN has three centers in the top 65 on its board. If the Vikings aren't completely comfortable with Sullivan, they could snag another center in the draft and use it to not only give Sullivan competition, but in the case of a prospect like Max Unger or Eric Wood, it could also give them some improved depth at guard, and in Unger's case, tackle as well.

The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Ray Lewis will remain with the Ravens, possibly for the rest of his career.

The Ravens and Lewis agreed to a multi-year deal that won't be formally set for a couple of weeks, but General Manager Ozzie Newsome said he's happy to see the 10-time Pro Bowler sticking with the purple and black.

[Newsome] wouldn't disclose the length of the deal but said "Ray Lewis can retire as a Raven."

By tomorrow afternoon, the Ravens will either have their replacement for Jason Brown or the Vikings will have brought back the elder statesman of their offensive line. Matt Birk says that his first jump into free agency won't take long, as he'll make a decision by Thursday on whether to sign with the Ravens or return to Minnesota.

The Ravens need Birk more than the Vikings do. Minnesota has been planning for Birk's potential loss, as they are grooming John Sullivan to replace Birk, although there is little doubt that Birk, a six-time Pro Bowler, will be a better center in 2009 than Sullivan.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

In an NFC that is heading into the offseason without a clear favorite, the Minnesota Vikings have almost all the pieces to be the presumptive favorite. They have an outstanding defensive line, an improved secondary and the best running back in the business. They also have a very good offensive line and thanks to Bernard Berrian, the receiver corps no longer is a joke.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Above you'll find my questions at the Super Bowl week press conferences of Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt, Walter Payton Man of the Year Award finalist Matt Birk, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and Pro Football Hall of Famer Bruce Smith.

TAMPA, Fla. -- So there I was this morning at the Walter Payton Man of the Year press conference, where Vikings center Matt Birk, Eagles safety Brian Dawkins and Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner were being honored for their stellar play on the field and good works in the community.

Warner couldn't attend because he had practice, but the media had been told that Kurt's wife, Brenda Warner, would be there in his place. Before the event began, I spotted Birk and Dawkins off to the side of the auditorium, chatting with an attractive, young blonde, but I couldn't find Brenda anywhere. And then they introduced Birk, Dawkins and Brenda Warner -- and the attractive, young blonde went up on stage with the two football players.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio admits this is just an educated guess, but he wouldn't be surprised to see LeCharles Bentley end up in Minnesota.

At first glance, it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. The Vikings have veteran Matt Birk at center. Birk may not be as good as Bentley was at his best, but then, Bentley's best was two missed seasons, a staph infection and knee injury ago. There's a pretty good bet that Birk is a better player than Bentley right now.

Florio agrees with that, but he still believes that the Vikings may sign Bentley anyway, because they don't appear to have any plans to bring Birk back in 2009 with a new contract. That may be true, but it's hard to believe the Vikings would be able to avoid a revolt if they replace Birk with Bentley this season. Birk is a veteran team leader and a guy who can help the Vikings win in 2008. At this point, Bentley is an complete unknown. If Minnesota was aiming to rebuild that could make sense, but it would be a very big risk for a team with serious playoff hopes.

All week I've been hearing and reading stuff about the upcoming Redskins-Cowboys game about how the Redskins secondary looked so bad against Minnesota that they should make Bledsoe look good again. The theory is that second-year CB Carlos Rogers won't be able to maintain T.O., let alone Kenny Wright or Mike Rumph.

Looking back at the Vikings game, Gregg Williams did not employ a lot of blitz packages. Brad Johnson was pretty much given a break because of the injuries suffered on our defensive side of the ball. With Pierson Prioleau going down early in the game and Shawn Springs still nursing his injury, that left zero depth in the secondary. If you blitz Rogers and Taylor, you have recently acquired Mike Rumph covering one-on-one with only Adam Archuleta covering the top. Not a good idea. The backup safeties are Vernon Fox and Reed Doughty, neither of whom has proven anything yet.

With Gregg Williams holding back on bringing the heat we're used to seeing, that left the pressure up to an injured Cornelius Griffin, Phillip Daniels and Renaldo Wynn. And where in the world is Andre Carter? Going against Steve Hutchinson, Matt Birk and Bryant McKinnie, you HAVE to bring some heat.