Last year at this time, the Minnesota Vikings and Tennessee Titans were in a
three-way battle to sign free agent WR Kevin Curtis. But the third team involved
in the process, the Philadelphia Eagles, wound up signing the former St. Louis
Ram.
The interesting facet of the battle was that Philadelphia wound up signing him
for less than Minnesota offered Curtis.
Curtis chose Philadelphia over Minnesota, sources say, because he wanted the
best chance to win.
This time around, leagues sources told Scout.com there could be at least
a two way battle for free agent Bernard Berrian. The Chicago Bears wide receiver
is expected to be hotly pursued by two teams, the Minnesota Vikings and
Tennessee Titans. A third team, the San Francisco 49ers, are the wild card. They
could choose to enter the fray as well and are in dire need of a speedy
receiver.
But sources say the first two teams that were involved in the Curtis
negotiations last year will go after Berrian hard. In fact, we could see a
bidding war between Tennessee and Minnesota and both teams have ample salary cap space to make such a move.
Both teams are badly in need of receiver help and neither team was able to
secure a top flight receiver last year.
As Scout.com first noted last week in the
NFL
Insider Free Agent Blog, Minnesota has Berrian as their top free agent to
sign. And as Scout.com also first noted last week, the
Oakland Raiders Jerry Porter is another receiver who has their interest. So
Minnesota has a plan should they miss on securing Berrian or if they decide his
price is too high. Sources also say that the team was interested in signing
Houston Texans WR Andre' Davis who wound up re-signing with the team on
Thursday. Minnesota planned on using Davis as their primary kickoff returner in
addition to using him in their receiver rotation.
Minnesota also is expected to pursue
Cincinnati Bengals FS Madieu Williams as also first noted by Scout.com
last week.
As for Tennessee, despite re-signing WR Justin Gage, they have their attention
on Berrian.
In offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger's scheme, he features a deep passing
game and Berrian is known for stretching the field vertically. Berrian is the
kind of down-the-field receiver that Tennessee covets. If Tennessee is
unsuccessful in signing Berrian or they deem his price too high, Arizona Cardinals WR Bryant Johnson could enter the mix. He runs well for a receiver of
his size.