Thoughts on Jared Allen's possible trade to the Vikings

Big news today as the Kansas City Chiefs have confirmed they are shopping star defensive end Jared Allen. The Vikings are thought to be one of the frontrunners - along with Tampa Bay and possibly Jacksonville.

Of those teams, the Vikings have the highest first round pick to dangle in front of the Chiefs. And they have the greatest need for a sack specialist, so they should be willing to give the Chiefs what they want.

It should be mentioned however, that Allen has a booze problem, notably two outstanding DUIs. This seems very contradictory for a team that Zygi Wilf is trying to assemble that is "accountable for it's actions" and trying to build up the team's character problems that surfaced around the "sex boat scandal". His problems with the law propose more problems than that though. He'd also have to be signed to a long-term deal for big money and would take up a lot of cap space and one more run-in with the law like that would result in AT LEAST a 4-game suspension (probably more than that). Still, this is a risk worth taking for the Vikings.

Legitimate pass rushing ends are hard to find. The Vikings have been looking for one for years. Allen is that kind of player. He had 15.5 sacks last year and has 43 in his four-year career. And he's not just a pass rusher, he can defend the run, make tackles, knock down passes, and even catch touchdowns as well. He's 26 and in his prime. He's been a durable player. He fills perhaps the Vikings greatest need. He could have the kind of effect on the Vikings defence that Patrick Kerney had in Seattle last season.

If I were a Vikings' fan (for some godforesaken and unforeseen reason) I would be very excited about this. To get this deal done I would pull the trigger for a 1st and a 3rd in a heartbeat. I think they should do it if the deal is for a 1st and a 2nd round pick. If, however, they are wanting two 1st round pick the Vikings will find themselves in a pickle. In that case I would almost say that they should save their money and hold onto their picks and take the best DE available at pick 17 in this year's draft.

Now, as a Packer fan, I was pretty concerned upon first hearing about this trade rumor. However, upon further thought going into it I'm ok with it. This is come Monday Night Football in Week one when Jared Allen injures Aaron Rodgers and the Packers lose, Brett Favre will come out of retirement and lead the Pack to a 15-1 season and a Superbowl championship. Then afterwards entertain the thought of retirement or staying once again.

Allen is going to be at Winter Park this weekend and if/when this deal goes down it's gunna be before the draft. So, we'll just have to wait and see. If it happens for the Vikings they will have a pretty boring draft day, but I think it would be worth it for them.