McKinnie stays with the Vikings

marshall@instantactionsports.com (Marshall Smith) — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 23:17:13 GMT

by Marshall Smith
Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Not really sure about his future on the team when he came to play with the Vikings in 2002, he just signed a seven-year, $48.5 million deal that includes more than $17 million in guaranteed money.

The former Hurricane had a clouded rookie season with a 98-day holdout, this is why former Vikings owner Red McCombs was lacking of trust regarding the left tackle, but with new ownership and his contract, the future looks bright for the player who was on final year of rookie contract.

The player said that uncertainty was beginning to weigh on him: "It kind of was in your mind because you know it's your last year and you're not sure what might happen, you just never know. You don't want to get injured. Once it's over and done with, you know where you're going to be. You don't have to think about anything else. Just think about football." McKinnie said.

Bryant McKinnie feels more relief and even spoke about his desire of finishing his career as a Viking as All-Pro guard Randall McDaniel did.

Contrary to McCombs who was perceived as penny-pinching, the new Vikings owner is definitely not afraid to spend money to get the players he believe are the best ones to face the current season as he have spend almost $100 million.

McKinnie said that he would have probably signed for another franchise if McCombs was still in power. "I could tell when Zygi first came here, he had that attitude that he wanted to make this an elite program, it was a whole different personality." McKinnie said.

Another Vikings defended the permanence of the tackler in the team:

"When you have a good tackle like that, particularly a left tackle, you have to try to keep those guys around, they just don't grow on trees, and he's one of the better ones in this league." Brad Childress said.

"He's proven his worth, whenever you get a left tackle in this league, a dominant player like that you have to lock him down. It's good the management noticed it" quarterback Brad Johnson said.

Last season, McKinnie prove his critics wrong and now is considered to be on the verge of becoming a Pro Bowl player.

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McKinnie stays with the Vikings