This totally won't happen, but what else do you have to do on a Monday morning in February?
So, reports indicate that former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver, Sidney Rice, will likely be cut from the Seattle Seahawks. He's due a fat paycheck of $9.7 million in 2014, and after realizing he's only played in a total of 33 out of 48 possible games, after he was signed to be a go-to receiver for the Seahawks, that nine millions seems like a little much.
So, Rice is likely to be cut so the Seahawks can make cap space room for more important players, like that butthole Golden Tate and improving defensive end Michael Bennett, who I am learning is NOT actually the Michael Bennett we all know and love. And when that happens, the question comes up …
Would you take Sidney Rice back?
I mean, without knowing anything about numbers, and his injury history, and everything else, I'd say "Sure, whatever" in a heat beat. I'd take him, but it'd be a shoulder shrug rather than an exciting free agent move.
But let's say this. Let's say we sign him for like … I don't know … $2 million on a one year deal or something. Currently, Jerome Simpson and Joe Webb are on the outs as free agents. So Rice could conceivably replace one of those guys. He'd be better than Webb, as he's actually a receiver rather than an "athlete", and could act as the Red Zone target, replacing Joe Webb's usefulness. He's probably not as fast as Jerome Simpson, however, but both have had injury problems in the past, and Rice has what my always reliable eye-test tells me is "deceptive speed", meaning he probably runs routes well and can find gaps in the defense. I think he'd be an upgrade over Simpson, even assuming both were healthy enough to play 16 games in a season.
But that's the real question, isn't it? Rice hasn't played a full season since 2012, and even before that in 2011 he was still fighting through a hip injury that plagued him when he was with the Vikings. In 2013, he tore his ACL. So, now he's a guy coming off of an ACL injury who is in the supposed prime of his career, but with no way of knowing if he'll ever be able to play through those years. Again, if he could stay healthy, and is this ACL injury hasn't ruined his talents, he'd be a nice second or third receiver on a team. I'd take a one year flyer on him, but that's probably it.
But would the 2014 Vikings do it? Would Coach Zimmer like to see him on the team? Does OC Norv Turner want Rice as one of his guys? I kind of doubt it. I have no idea what kind of offense Zimmer likes (he probably doesn't like offense, like an Angry Cat), and even if he DID like offense, he'd probably just adapt to whatever worked best for his players because he's SMART. Norv seems to like bigger bodied receivers that show nice flashes of speed, and while that COULD fit the profile of Rice, I don't know if it'd work anymore. So I'd guess Norv would pass too.
However, the team could certainly use him. Adrian Peterson would probably love to have his friend back in purple, after seeing him initially leave, then Percy and Antoine. It'd help him step back from the edge and we wouldn't have to trade him then and I wouldn't have to cut myself. He'd also fit in nicely with Greg Jennings, Cordarrelle Patterson, and Jarius Wright, who are going to be the core going forward. Rice could be the heady veteran, the Marcus Robinson if you will of the 2014 squad, who plays with heart. AND! You could get your number 18 jerseys out. Ooo-OOOH!
Anyway. It won't happen, and I'm still mad at him leaving in the first place, but maybe he knew he'd always be injured, so it was a good idea to get the money while he could. Smart man.
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