The Vikings’ Best Free Agent Signings Since 2000
2. Steve Hutchinson
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Ah, the poison pill. Steve Hutchinson played his first five years for the Seattle Seahawks, after which they placed the “transition tag” on him in 2006. For all of the machinations that followed, read this. The gist though is the Vikings gave him an offer that included the clause that he must be the highest-paid lineman on the team or the seven year, $49 million contract would be fully guaranteed. The Seahawks had already given Walter Jones more than that, thus were unwilling to match. The move led to the NFL disallowing such clauses. What a stroke of brilliance though.
More important though was his play on the field in purple. To give you an idea of how well he played for the Vikings, Hutchinson was named All-Pro each year from 2006 through 2009 and was named the NFL Alumni Offensive Lineman of the Year in both 2006 and 2009. He helped anchor the offensive line for the team’s NFC Championship run in 2009 and was named one of the 50 Greatest Vikings of all-time. Not a bad run. Really, I could have flipped a coin between Hutchinson and my top pick.