Versatility had Vikings dialing up Lewis
Friday, September 11, 2009
scout.com
The Vikings released their leading receiver of the last two years, Bobby Wade, and signed a street free agent to replace him. Why? According to Vikings coaches, it was all about Greg Lewis’ versatility and familiarity with the system.
The whispers on the first days of training camp started circulating that if there was a veteran player who wouldn’t be on the opening-day roster for the Vikings, it could be Bobby Wade.
The rationale made sense, despite Wade leading the team in receptions each of the last two years. At his best, Wade is a slot receiver – a position ideally suited for first-round rookie Percy Harvin. Considering Wade’s $3 million salary, it also made fiscal sense to cut loose a player whose role was going to be severely limited if everything went to plan.
That seemed to change last week when Wade restructured his contract to cut his salary in half and make him an unrestricted free agent after the 2009 season. When the final cuts came down, Wade was still a Viking.
That was until the New England Patriots announced their final cuts. Among them was Greg Lewis, a veteran who spent his entire NFL career with the Philadelphia Eagles and, until 2006, under offensive coordinator Brad Childress. When Lewis became available, his ability as an outside receiver able to stretch a defense was enough for the Vikings to pull the trigger on signing him and releasing Wade.
Head coach Brad Childress said that, when the positives of both players were weighed against one another, the pluses that Lewis brings to the table outweighed those Wade could provide – despite being the most consistent pass-catcher on the roster.
“I just think at the end of the day we look at it and just felt like it made us better,” Childress said. “I'm appreciative of everything he's done for us here the last couple of years. But we felt like we had a chance to make ourselves better with Greg. I have some background with him. I think he'll be able to come in here and get up to speed relatively quickly.”
Childress said that Lewis’ famiarilty with the Vikings offense and his versatility were the primary motivation for bringing him to the Vikings and, in the big scheme of things, Wade was the logical choice to get rid of.
“It's always a factor,” Childress said of the versatility Lewis brings to the offense. “The more you can do the better off you are. The old (saying), everyone is useful, no one is necessary. He has done those things. He's played in the slot, played as an outside guy, played as No. 1 guy, played as a gunner. (He’s a) tough guy (with a) tough background from the standpoint of he was a walk-on at Illinois who earned a scholarship – was basically a street free agent who came to Philadelphia and found his way. He was a quick study, contributed and had a catch for a touchdown in the Super Bowl. If I'm not mistaken, (Patriots head coach) Bill (Belichick) said somewhere back in the summertime that he had been trying to trade for him for two years and finally got him. He was there, he was on the street and (we were) just glad that he was available.”
While Wade was the victim of a numbers game – another harsh reminder of the business that the NFL has become – he won’t be unemployed for long. In his two seasons with the Vikings, he was never expected to be the No. 1 receiver. Yet, in both years, he led the team in receptions. Expect to see him signed with another team, maybe after the first weekend of games so his full season of salary isn’t guaranteed.
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