Vikes, McKinnie playing risky game

Want to make a quick hit in the collectible business? Looking to scoop up a rare gem? OK, terrific. Here's a tip: Invest $189.95 (plus $7 shipping and handling) in a Bryant McKinnie jersey.

If we're wrong, just stuff the purple No. 74 jersey in a closet. Or peddle yourself as a Minnesota Vikings fan. But if McKinnie never suits up for the NFL club -- which isn’t a ridiculous longshot -- you could have a valuable piece of unused fabric.

McKinnie, the Vikings' first-round draft pick, must be signed by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 12. If he’s not, NFL rules dictate he can’t play pro ball this season. And if that’s the case, you can bet the Vikes trade his rights in the days leading up to next April’s NFL Draft draft (unsigned picks can’t be traded until March 4, 2003). Otherwise, they risk getting nothing if he re-enters the draft.

Talks heated up in recent days because of the looming deadline, but don't expect McKinnie on the field for Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Bucs.

The subject of much love from TV football analysts during his glory days as a Miami Hurricane, the big fella nicknamed “Mount McKinnie" was penciled in at left tackle after the Vikings made him the seventh overall pick last spring. He figured to be protecting quarterback Duante Culpepper’s blind side.

2002 NFL Payrolls Top Five Team  Payroll  1. New York Jets  $87.79 million   2. Houston Texans  $86.79   3. Pittsburgh Steelers  $85.47   4. Dallas Cowboys  $79.59  5. San Francisco 49ers  $75.12   Bottom Five Team  Payroll  28. Green Bay Packers  $42.40 million  29. Minnesota Vikings  $45.63  30. Baltimore Ravens  $47.61  31. New England Patriots  $48.27  32. Jacksonville Jaguars  $50.27  League Average   $63.57    [Source: NFL Players Association]

Now, McKinnie is making a name for himself in another way. His holdout, coming up on 100 days, is the most drawn-out affair for a first-rounder since Kelly Stouffer, a little-remembered quarterback, sat out the 1987 season in a squabble with the St. Louis Cardinals. (Hey, the San Diego Chargers can only wish Ryan Leaf had bought into this holdout business.)

What we have here is a pricey difference of opinion. Using what other high first-round picks have received as a guide, McKinnie’s agents, Jim Steiner and Ben Dogra, are seeking a five-year deal that includes a $9.3 million signing bonus. That's $1.2 million more than the Vikings have offered.

The agents have a reputation for holdouts. Vikings owner Red McComb has a reputation of being frugal, operating with one of the NFL's’s tightest payrolls.

Complicating things is that McComb may be close to unloading the club. And he isn’t buying this slotting business, the practice of players being paid according to where they’re picked in the draft. So he doesn't care that the Dallas Cowboys gave the draft’s eighth overall pick, safety Roy Williams, $9.3 million up front ($4 million signing bonus, plus $5.3 million as an option bonus next year). Or that the sixth pick, defensive tackle Ryan Sims, got a $9.87 million bonus in a six-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Some in the NFL believe McComb is too entrenched in his position. Even a longtime general manager acknowledges: “In today’s slotting method, it just seems like this should have been resolved."

But then McKinnie, 6-foot-8 and about 345 pounds, didn’t help himself when he struggled to get through the Vikings' mini-camp last spring. After four 40-yard sprints, he threw up. “He’s the first guy I’ve seen who’s out of shape and not overweight," Vikings coach Mike Tice cracked at the time.

Oh, and there’s the salacious issue of McKinnie and Sims being key players in a collusion investigation by the NFL Players Association. The union believes the Vikings and Chiefs violated the collective bargaining agreement by exchanging details of their negotiations with the two players last summer.

The Vikings want the investigation to go away before finalizing a deal. However, even if McKinnie agreed, said Richard Berthelsen, general counsel of the NFLPA, the union has no plans to drop the matter.

So what becomes of this mess? Even if he signed tomorrow, McKinnie’s rookie season is a waste.

“I’m sure he has a lot of catching up to do," says Art Kehoe, his old line coach at Miami. “That is why they go through that five or six weeks of training camp and the preseason games. I know he’s been down here, and he’s been lifting and running pretty hard, doing the best that he can to stay in shape. But I’m sure Bryant is very concerned about it.

“Once he gets in there, he’s not only making the transition from being off, but the transition of going to a much improved level of play. He’s a heckuva player, though. He may have some adjustment problems early, but I don’t think it’ll last that long."

The value placed on left tackles is huge, so another team will certainly desire McKinnie if the Vikings don't sign him. But his sitting out the season won’t be viewed positively, and there’s certainly no guarantee he'd again be a top-seven pick in next year's NFL Draft.

What the Vikings stand to potentially lose is a top-rated tackle. If forced to trade him next spring, they'll be lucky to recoup the No. 7 overall pick that McKinnie cost them.

So you could argue there’s no sure winner if this lingers beyond the Nov. 12 deadline. Unless, you’re holding McKinnie’s Vikings jersey.

Mike Fish is a senior writer for CNNSI.com.

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