Just a Thought ~ Vincent Jackson's Destination

After observing the sputtering Vikings passing offense today with a hobbled Percy Harvin and a lack of Sidney Rice, is there any doubt in anyone's mind that they will trade for Vincent Jackson? Granted Brett Favre completed 22 of 36 passes (with 3 interceptions), but they were mostly short and intermediate passes. Visanthe Shaincoe was his leading receiver for the second consecutive week in both catches and yards, and that is not a good sign for any team, even if it's Philip Rivers to Antonio Gates. Rice is expected to return to the field somewhere around week 8 to week 10, and there has already been some inside information saying his recovery is not proceeding as quickly as it was expected to.

It is very obvious the Vikings are in a "win now" mode. Their entire Super Bowl hopes rely on Favre being their QB (they haven't bothered to draft a quality QB prospect in the last few years), and Brad Childress has been on the hot seat since before he originally convinced Favre to join the Packers' division rival. Jackson has been asking for an extremely high salary--too high for the Chargers and too high for any team to vehemently pursue him--and the Vikings may suddenly be desperate enough to pony up the cash after a dismal 0-2 start. They need a big deep threat WR.

As a Jackson owner in my money keeper league (drafted him in the seventh round and have the option to keep him next year), I have heard all the rumors of the Vikings, Seahawks, Brown, Redskins, and Rams being in the V-Jax sweepstakes and have been strongly pulling for the WR1-less Redskins to pay for his services. From a fantasy perspective, joining the Vikings right now would return Jackson to WR1 status with the ultimate gun-slinger as his QB, but the inevitable return of Rice would cloud that status. Joining the Redskins would assure Jackson owners of owning a top fantasy WR into the fantasy playoffs, since the Redskins don't currently have a true WR1 for Donovan McNabb.

Given the recent Vikings loss, helped along by the paltry passing offense, it seems inevitable that Jackson will be a Minnesota Viking before Wednesday afternoon, which is the deadline for his suspension to be reduced to four games instead of six if traded. If that happens, it is scary to think of what kind of noise the Vikings will make in the NFL once Rice is fully healthy.