The multi-purpose stadium will cost close to a billion dollars ($975M) to build and now the design proposal will be submitted to the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Stadium Implementation Committee for their review. Had the stadium included a retractable roof it likely would have exceeded the billion dollar mark by as much as $25M according to some estimates.

Despite the lack of a retractable roof the new stadium is a stunning visual statement with amazing sweeping structures and will boast the largest transparent roof in the world made of ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) . Doors facing the Minneapolis skyline will open to enhance the live experience. Bryan Trubey of HKS Sports & Entertainment Group said the design reflects Minnesota’s international style and the interior of stadium will feature the most advanced digital technology.

By designing a multi-purpose closed roof stadium with a see through ceiling designers at HKS allow fans to have the sense they are outside but without the downside of actually being outside (such as rain, sleet, heat and snow which you can experience all in the same day). The big question in my mind is can ethylene tetrafluoroethylene withstand the pressure and weight of a good Minnesota snow storm? We can only hope because another repeat of the collapsed dome is too much to handle:

Besides being a perfect venue for football the new stadium will be able to accommodate other sport and non-sporting events such as NCAA Basketball Tourney. Construction will start this Fall with the stadium scheduled to be complete in time for the 2016 season. The new 65,000-seat stadium will replace the Metrodome but will sit on pretty much the same location which means the Dome will need to be demolished in early 2014.

You can check out the new design on the Vikings website:

http://www.vikings.com/stadium/new-stadium/

Some fans have complained about not having a retractable roof so that the team can get back to its roots by playing in the elements like they did in the old Metropolitan stadium in Bloomington. Yes the Met stadium as we used to call it was cool and all but I remember going to Twins games and Kicks games as well as open air concerts and it was always a gamble with the weather.

Since football season extends into winter, especially if the team is making the playoffs having the roof open in inclement weather doesn’t make much sense for the fan. If the weather is nice yes it would be great to have the roof open but if it’s not then the roof should be closed and that would defeat the purpose of playing in harsh weather.

So I think that the retractable roof would have been fun but it would never had lead up to the idea that the team would play in really crappy weather. If that would have been the point then why have a roof at all? I think, for the price fans pay for a ticket these days, being comfortable and able to enjoy the game and not worry being rained on or snowed or sleeted on.

What do you think of the new, non-retractable, Vikings stadium design? Love it? Hate it? Post your comments below.

The Vikings front office has been busy this week as Tuesday marked the official start of the 2013 NFL season.

Here’s a quick wrap up the Vikings big moves.

• On Friday they signed WR Greg Jennings to a 5 year, $47.5M contract. They also signed QB Matt Cassel to a 1 year, $4M contract.
• On Tuesday they traded WR Percy Harvin to the Seahawks for Seattle’s first and seventh round draft picks this year and a third round pick next year (the trade was pre-announced on Monday). They also re-signed WR Jerome Simpson to a 1 year contract extension.
• On Monday they released CB Antoine Winfield who was due $7.25M and re-signed RT Phil Loadholt and LB Erin Henderson.

The Vikings now have a pair of first round picks with their 23rd overall pick and Seattle’s 25th overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft which starts on April 25th.

The 2013 draft is presumed to be deeper than previous years putting the Vikings in a strong position to capitalize. Speculation is that they’ll continue to beef up the offense focusing on WR’s but with an aging defense it’s possible that they will fill some gaps at DT, DE or ILB.

Mock drafts have the Vikes targeting WR’s Keenan Allen (California), Robert Woods (USC) and Justin Hunter (Tennessee).

More 2013 mock draft info from nfl.com

Positive. It’s a funny word. It’s different than optimism. It doesn’t infer ‘an outlook’ or a ‘feeling’, instead it can be quite quantitative. For example, a positive gain can mean a five yard run up the middle. We refer to positive as the plus sign in the turnover ratio. It’s good to be positive. And I believe it’s time that the Vikings to positively support the idea that Joe Webb should start a few games in 2012.

We’re heading into week 10 of the NFL season and with 4 games left against the Packers and Bears, (both won decisively yesterday) wins will be more scarce. The Vikings are in a strange place. Their realistic playoff chances were sunk when they couldn’t defend their home turf against the Buccaneers, yet they are moving steadily moving away from the rebuilding stage. Getting to mediocrity without knowing who your starting quarterback can be done easily. However, a positive sign for a playoff team is the quarterback play. At this point, the Vikings are still searching for answers. With 7 games left, they should at least uncover the possibilities and reinstate the idea that the 25-year old, third year quarterback, Joe Webb, can be their starter.

Here are the positives: at 6’4, he’s more than tall enough for the position, very hard to bring down, has a strong arm, and most important – he brings much needed explosiveness to the Vikings offense. Here’s what former senior personnel executive and current NFL Network analyst Mike Lombardi said about Joe Webb, “I don’t care where the Vikings drafted Christian Ponder, the best quarterback on the team is Joe Webb. He is a playmaker and should get better and better. The Vikings need to build around Webb, not Ponder.”

Offensive Coordinator, Bill Musgrave, must think more out of the box on Webb. This preseason, Webb’s playmaking seemed to be curbed in favor of a more pocket style quarterback. Unfortunately, his strength might be more conducive on making plays. Good coaches make the best of their talent. In limited playing time, Webb produced 9 first downs with his legs. He rushed for 7 yards per scramble, comparable to RGIII’s 6.5 yard average and Cam Newton’s career 5.7 average per rush. Can you imagine a Wild Cat of Adrian Peterson and Joe Webb, owner of a borderline 4.3, 40 time? If that makes you salivate how about Joe Webb and Percy Harvin running that play? This would be Tim Tebow and Willis McGahee 2011 – but running on fast forward. And while Webb is no Matt Ryan with passing mechanics, he is more accurate than Tebow. Webb’s career completion percentage is a little more than 10% higher than Tebow’s. We bag on Tebow a bit in this piece, but keep in mind, his ‘QB mobile’ brand of play led the Broncos to the playoffs last season. Joe Webb can successfully bring that style of ball to Minnesota – and make it better. The Vikings have won a total of 14 regular season games since their magical 2009 run, which makes it clear – they are still looking for answers. Be positively sure about what Joe Webb can bring, before you keep him buried on the bench for continued mediocrity.

The Vikings came unto the scene in 1961 with a scrambling quarterback who gave weekly material to NFL films with his highlight scrambles. Tarkenton didn’t often advance the ball forward with his scramble. He did it to buy time to look downfield to find a big play. But maybe Tarkenton should have scrambled more for yards. I think about that every time a quarterback breaks a long touchdown run against the Vikings. On Sunday, RGIII beat Minnesota with his legs. As a lifelong Vikings fan, I was painfully flashing back to Steve Young’s 49-yard game winning run against them in 1988. Then in 2002, Michael Vick beat the Vikings on a 46-yard run in overtime. He ran for 173 yards that day.

Fast forward to 2012, the Vikings were coming to D.C. allowing a sub 3.0 yard average on the ground and limited ground games to only 1 rushing score. So of course everyone knew RGIII was going to pile up 133 yards and 2 scores as the latest running quarterback to memorably put away the Vikings. The 76-yard run was unreal. He beat Chad Greenway from getting to the angle and it was all sideline. The play essentially put the Vikings away. He is as exciting as Michael Vick in his prime, but his pocket passing might be more favorably compared to Steve Young.

If you drafted RGIII 8th round or later, man what a steal. Tell me what you think. Will RGIII surpass Cam Newton’s 2011 rookie season success?

What a difference playing the game makes. That’s what I think about when harkening back to pre-season and reading all the Fantasy Football pundits wax on about how much “stronger” (pudgier) Mathew Stafford looks this year or what a better attitude (now that he has someone to throw to) Jay Cutler is displaying. Heck, they pretty much handed Aaron Rodgers the Super Bowl MVP title along with a “must draft #1″ in almost every league format.

I have to admit, Christian Ponder went undrafted in all of my Fantasy Leagues. And why not? He had no deep threat and wouldn’t until WR Jerome Simpson finished his 3 game suspension, AP was coming off of a major knee reconstruction surgery and Percy Harvin was making mysterious comments about leaving the team due to contract issues – oh, never mind. Through it all head coach Leslie Frazier kept beating the “parity” drum and he was right. On any given Sunday one NFL team can beat another because most teams are evenly matched. And that’s why they play the games and why pre-season still means nothing and regular season sets the record, and pundits, straight.

What also sets the record straight are facts, in this case measurable numbers that show Vikings QB Christian Ponder is the #1 trending Quarterback in fantasy leagues. His stats don’t lie and are the main reason why he’s proven all the prognosticators wrong about the Vikings and himself. Chew on these Fantasy Freaks:

Christian Ponder Stats Through 5 Regular Season Games
109 Completions
1,082 Yards
6 TD’s
2 Ints
95.5 Passer Rating

The passer rating alone puts Ponder in the Top 10 of all NFL QB’s just behind Mr. Rodgers. This, compared with Cutler’s 78.7 rating and 7 TD’s or Stafford’s 81.6 rating and just 3 TD’s shows that Ponder is not only successful in all categories compared to his NFC North peers but he’s uber-efficient which helps his team win games.

Now Fantasy Football junkies aren’t dumb and they are seeing the stats too which is why when I checked today and yesterday Ponder was the #1 trending QB in fantasy league activity with 7,815 owners picking him up and another 62 of them trading for him. Even though he’s got a ton of activity he’s still not owned in 70% of leagues which means he’s probably still available in your league (if you’re into that sort of thing). Yes, getting Fantasy Football cred can sometimes take a long time. In fact losing it takes a while too. Stafford is still owned in 99% of leagues and his power rankings for week 6 still have him above Ponder even though his track record suggest he’s bench-able and Ponder is a solid start.

Whatever Fantasy Footballers decide to do doesn’t really matter much to us because as Vikings fans we get to watch him win week in and week out. With Simpson getting up to speed with the offense, Percy and AP on fire and the entire Defense and Special Teams playing to their potential I’ve got to say Coach Frazier has them firing on all cylinders right now and the sky’s (or the dome in this case) is the limit!

READ MORE: Christian Ponder’s fantasy football match up with the Washington Redskins in Week 6

(Photo by Arvee5.0)

A lot of NFL pundits and fans talk every year about that team the team that comes out of nowhere to make the playoffs. The Vikings are 3-1 and looks the part of that team.

The Detroit Lions look like they are on the other side of the spectrum. The team playing ugly, struggling to recapture the success and possibly some magical bounces it had the prior season.

The Vikings deservingly should receive credit for their third September win. They played great in 2 of the 3 phases, defense and special teams. The Vikings offense tried to play keep away, relying on Adrian Peterson to move the chains and keeping the Lions offense off the field long enough to establish any offensive rhythm. This was the same formula the Vikings offense employed in September 2011. Remember that 39-yard passing effort by Donovan McNabb in a lead slipping loss to the San Diego Chargers? Ponder nearly tripled that number, with an anemic 111 yards passing on 16 completions for a 4.3 yard completion average. Last year’s Detroit Lions may have fared better against the Vikings. They too were down 20-3 to the Vikings, but on the strength of a few Calvin Johnson circus catches and the Vikings unimaginative attempts at moving the chains, the Lions stole one at Mall of America Field. The Vikings ended September winless and the success of the 2009 season seemed like 10 years ago. The Vikings found themselves in a 2-year hangover post NFC Championship appearance.

Fortunes reverse quickly. The 1-3 Lions were the listless ones on Sunday. They were the team that could not seize the moment. Two big Vikings’ kick returns and a handful of sacks kept the big play Lions off balance and relatively non-aggressive. But if the Vikings want to achieve more success than 9 wins and a handful of tight losses, they have to open up the playbook. The old Dungy Buccaneer ball only maxed out as a 9 or 10 win team. So to go beyond being first round playoff fodder, Christian Ponder has to prove he is leaps and bounds better than Trent Dilfer. Bill Musgrave must continue to utilize Jerome Simpson’s home run skills in the Vikings small ball game planning. And Kyle Rudolph’s success cannot be a one-off thing. It’s got to stick. He has to make a sustainable impact, because 111 yards  passing and 0 offensive touchdown efforts don’t beat the Green Bay Packers. It might not even beat a team with just a little more heart than what the Detroit Lions brought on Sunday.

As far as upsets go, the Vikings have scored a few in recent memory. In the terrible 2010 season, Joe Webb and the undermanned Vikings came into Philadelphia and provided a blueprint that teams still use to disrupt Michael Vick.

In 2011, The Vikings scored another NFC East upset, albeit, not as impressive. Again being undermanned and lead by Joe Webb, the Vikings got themselves ouf of the RGIII sweepstakes by beating the tanking Redskins. Anytime your starting quarterback is Rex Grossman, you are in tanking mode.

Upsets generally become one-offs on success, nothing that gets build on. Remember what happened after Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson? The Vikings have not been able to sustain success after each of those two “nice” wins. This time around the Vikings scored their upset win in week 3, not at the backend of the season, when veterans are usually checking out. What makes the win over the San Francisco more encouraging is the Vikings young players contributed the most. Kyle Rudolph looked like a stud tight end around the red zone. Christian Ponder was also on the same wave length as Percy Harvin. This is his 4th season in the league, and despite only being 24, he is proving to become the best possession receiver the Vikings have had since Cris Carter.

This is especially a big game for the team’s young head coach, Leslie Frazier. He is 0-7 against the division and his head coach of a time who has lost 11 straight against division foes. The Lions are looking wobbly and ever so unstable. If the Vikings can maintain composure and steal a win in Ford Field, both Frazier and the young Vikings will start to make a case that there is sustaining progress that is happening.

Whether it’s a matter of disinterest or misinformation, I feel like Christian Ponder doesn’t get his due respect. I’d like to lead the charge on the Christian Ponder bandwagon that I think will be developing within the next 1-2 years. Let’s consider the facts here:

1. AP. This one is a given, but when you have superhuman RB Adrian Peterson on your team, a green or subpar quarterback shouldn’t hold you back. Consider some similar Superbowl bound dynamic duos of the past including Big Ben and Jerome Bettis or Trent Dilfer and Jamal Lewis. A great running back can give an inexperienced or lower quality quarterback an invaluable crutch.

2. He can beef up. Look at similarly dismissed QB Mark Sanchez of the Jets. Over this offseason he’s put on over 15 pounds of muscle and it shows with that extra zip in his throw. Sanchez is in his 4th year and is looking like the pro he was heralded as when signed. Christian Ponder already has a big arm and definitely has the stature to allow for some bulking up.

3. He won’t be tested much this year. I don’t know if this is a plus or a minus but if you look at Ponder’s regular season schedule, he’s got very few difficult tests ahead of him. Next week’s match against the 49ers will be one of the more interesting showings of his progression. On the plus side, confidence is huge and a fairly easy schedule might be a great ego boost for the QB.

4. He’s smart. Technique can be practiced and mastered but as defensive schemes get more complex and confusing, having a clever QB behind the line can only help your team in coming years. In case you’re wondering, I’m also a believer in Ryan Fitzpatrick.

5. He’s stepped up. I think it’s crazy how quickly rookie QBs are pushed into the spotlight, considering the success rate of QBs who have had time to watch and learn from the sidelines (cough Aaron Rodgers cough), but it’s definitely a telling sign of a player’s character when he can step up right away. While he hasn’t won the hearts of the nation yet, I think he’s done admirably compared to QBs in similar situations – Colt McCoy, Blaine Gabbert, and Matt Moore. I mean hey, at least he still has his job.

So there you have it, that’s why I say Christian Ponder is your best bet to lead the Vikings to a Superbowl season this year. Well, maybe not lead, but jog quickly behind Adrian Peterson as he leads the purple and gold to victory. What do you guys think, are you a believer or are your fingers crossed for Joe Webb to get the nod this season?

Kate Potter is an amateur football analyst and a semi-pro fantasy football player. She freelances for several sports websites and helps manage NFL Betting Lines Guide, a unique betting experience which compares all the betting lines for the top sports gambling sites and offers betters a look at the best line available.

The final stadium architectural plans haven’t been revealed but we do know it will have a larger footprint than the Dome and allow for some tailgating as before but with a nicer pavilion area. In this artist rendering the stadium is shown with a fixed-roof structure:

But many insiders have said the under-a-billion budget won’t allow for a retractable roof which would allow the Vikings (and their rivals) to play in the harsh Minnesota winters and get back to their tougher “purple people eater” image of long ago but at the same time allowing the stadium to be used year-round for other events. Many fans were hoping for either an open roof stadium or a retractable roof.

The new stadium is expected to take 3 years to build, hold 65,000 fans (expandable to 72,000 to host the Super Bowl), keep the Vikings in Minnesota for another 30 years and utilize $348 million in funds from the state and $150 million from the city as well as $477 million in private funding including money from the NFL and stadium naming rights.

You can keep up to date on major announcements from the Vikings regarding the stadium on their site here:

http://www.vikings.com/stadium/new-stadium/index.html

The Minnesota Vikings secondary will look a little different in 2012. Last year, Cedric Griffin was coming back from multiple knee surgeries, Chris Cook was out with a pending court case, and Antoine Winfield was out most of the season with injuries, leaving the Vikings to play second and third string players. This offseason, the Vikings released Cedric Griffin, and Asher Allen unexpectedly retired from the NFL. The only returning players are Winfield (back for his 15th season) and last year’s starting safeties Jamarca Sanford and Mistral Raymond.

Free Agent Pickups

Chris Carr – Carr was an undrafted free agent out of Boise State in 2005. Carr has played 3 seasons with the Oakland Raiders, 1 with the Tennessee Titans, and the last 3 with the Baltimore Ravens. In 2010, Carr started all 16 games and had 54 tackles with 2 interceptions. Last year he played in 9 games, starting 1 and ended the season with 16 tackles and 0 interceptions. The lack of production last year was mainly due to a hamstring problem that lingered most of the season. Carr is not the answer to the Vikings poor secondary, but he will help build some depth.

Zach Bowman – Bowman was a 2008 fifth round pick out of Nebraska. He started 12 games in 2009 and had six interceptions that year for the Chicago Bears. Since the 2009 season he’s only had 3 starts, but played or was active for 29 games. During that two year span, he totaled 42 tackles and didn’t have an interception. The Vikings hope they get the player from 2009, not the player from the last two seasons.

Incoming Rookies

Harrison Smith – The Vikings didn’t trade back into the 1st round to have Smith sit on the bench. One of the starting safety spots is his to lose. Smith played multiple roles at Norte Dame and should be the best safety on the field from day one.

Josh Robinson – The speedy cornerback (CB) out of Central Florida will bring much needed speed to the Vikings secondary. The Robinson pick surprised me a little do to him being a more man to man type CB, instead of a Cover 2 type CB. But from the way it sounds, the Vikings will be trying to get away from the Cover 2 a little more often this year.

Robert Blanton – Blanton played CB for Notre Dame last year, but the Vikings will be moving him to safety and letting him compete with Sanford and Raymond for the other starting safety spot next to Harrison Smith. Blanton is 6’1”, 208 lbs and runs a 4.7 40. He is a smart player who knows what his strengths and weaknesses are.

Overall

If the depth chart of the Vikings secondary was released today, the starters would most likely be Winfield, Cook, Smith and Sanford. Carr could fight for the #2 CB spot, but most likely will compete with Robinson for the #3 spot. At safety, Blanton will be given the chance to try and beat out Sanford and last year’s rookie starter Mistral Raymond. Overall, the Vikings secondary has a lot of new faces and should have better overall depth, but how these starters perform will be instrumental in how well the Vikings do this year.