MINNESOTA VIKINGS: Run-and-shooting themselves in the foot
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Teams make dumb moves sometimes; with the Minnesota Vikings it sometimes seems like a bad habit they just can't shake. Over the weekend, they committed their latest. It's a blunder that's not on the scale of not getting their draft pick to the podium on time, but it's not a smart move, either.
In the seventh round this year, the Vikings drafted young, promising quarterback Tyler Thigpen. Sure, he wasn't ready for prime time, but he looked good enough not to toss out carelessly after one training camp.
But the Vikings tried to get away with a "shuffle him to the practice squad" move because they didn't have enough faith in Brooks Bollinger as the primary backup to T-Jack (Tavaris Jackson), so they brought in hopeless, hapless, helpless Kelly Holcomb to take the third-string QB spot, which forced the Vikes to either get Thigpen through waivers and onto the practice squad for a year, or cut him outright. They could have even attempted a trade.
But nope. Instead, as nearly everyone except Coach Childress and company expected, at least two claims were put on Thigpen and he was awarded to the Kansas City Chiefs, who immediately made him part of their active roster - third-string, if NFL buzz is accurate.
Now watch for a few years. Thigpen could easily develop into an NFL starter somewhere else, long after the geriatric Holcomb's career is buried in a shallow, unmarked grave.
