EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) The Minnesota Vikings have signed linebacker Marvin Mitchell.

The deal was announced Tuesday on the team’s website. Terms were not disclosed.

Mitchell was a seventh-round draft pick by New Orleans in 2007 who spent four seasons with the Saints and last year with Miami. He had 30 tackles, two forced fumbles, one sack and one interception last season for the Dolphins.

The 27-year-old has played primarily on special teams, but the Vikings have been seeking linebacker depth behind Jasper Brinkley, Chad Greenway and Erin Henderson.

The Vikings have been gradually turning over their defense this spring by adding lower-profile free agents. Last week, they signed cornerback Chris Carr, most recently of the Baltimore Ravens.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) The Minnesota Vikings have re-signed linebacker Erin Henderson to a one-year deal and signed former Chicago Bears cornerback Zack Bowman to a one-year contract.

The Vikings announced the moves on Tuesday. Henderson was one of the Vikings’ most consistent players on defense last season. He was fourth on the team with 91 tackles and also had eight tackles for loss in his first season as a full-time starter.

Bowman led the Bears with six interceptions and 10 passes defensed in 2009. But he lost his starting job in 2010 and never regained it in the past two seasons.

In Minnesota, he’ll be relied upon to add depth to a Vikings secondary that struggled last season. The 27-year-old likely will also be used on special teams.

In hopes of adding some veteran experience to their secondary, the Minnesota Vikings have scheduled yet another free agent visit.

This time, they’re planning on bringing in former Baltimore Ravens cornerback Chris Carr. The seven-year NFL veteran will meet with the Vikings on Thursday night.

The free agent cornerback met with the Kansas City Chiefs on Wednesday, but left without a contract and is now headed for Minnesota.

Carr started his NFL career with the Oakland Raiders back in 2005 as an undrafted free agent out of Boise State. After three seasons with the Raiders, he became a restricted free agent but wasn’t tendered. The Tennessee Titans eventually scooped him up and kept him on their roster for one year. In 2009, he signed with the Baltimore Ravens and spent his first two seasons with them as a starter. In 2011, a back injury limited his ability to see the field and led to his eventual release at season’s end.

The Vikings had also expressed interest in signing Carr as a free agent in 2009, but he opted to join the Ravens.

More than anything, Carr would provide the Vikings secondary with depth and experience. Barring any injuries, Carr would spend his time with the Vikings as a nickel package cornerback who would only see the field in passing situations. If signed, he would be in competition with youngsters Brandon Burton and Marcus Sherels as well as any potential 2012 draftees for playing time.

Carr also brings versatility as a return specialist. Although he isn’t as dangerous as Ted Ginn Jr, who the Vikings recently brought in for a visit, he does have experience and can handle the reps that the Vikings are hoping to take away from wide receiver Percy Harvin.

Despite his veteran value, adding Carr wouldn’t make much sense regarding the Vikings’ youth movement. The 29-year old cornerback has recently struggled with health issues and is in the latter half of his career.

In 105 career games (27 starts), Carr has accumulated 209 total tackles, 24 defended passes, seven forced fumbles, six interceptions and 2.5 sacks. His best season came in 2010 as the Ravens’ season-long starter, compiling 61 total tackles, eight defended passes, three forced fumbles and two interceptions.

Signing Carr wouldn’t be a sexy acquisition, but it gives the Vikings’ secondary a small lift that it so desperately needs.

Gil Alcaraz IV is a life-long follower of the Minnesota Vikings and the founder of TheVikingDen.com. For more Vikings/NFL coverage, follow him on Twitter or “like” The Viking Den on Facebook.

Read More: Remi Ayodele (DT – MIN), New Orleans Saints, Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings have released nose tackle Remi Ayodele as he awaits punishment for his involvement in the New Orleans Saints bounty program. Via the official Minnesota Vikings twitter account:

#Vikings have terminated the contract of NT Remi Ayodele.

— Minnesota Vikings (@VikingsFootball) March 21, 2012

The NFL announced the punishment of the coaches and management involved in the scandal, but Commissioner Roger Goodell is holding off on disciplining the players as of now. Ayodele played for the Saints from 2008-2010. He was involved in what should have been an illegal hit that injured Brett Favre in the 2009 NFC Championship Game.

In 2011, the Vikings paid Ayodele a signing bonus of $3.56 million and a base salary of $685 thousand, according to Kevin Seifert of ESPN’s NFC North Blog. Ayodele made just 15 tackles for Minnesota last season.

For more on the Minnesota Vikings, go to Daily Norseman. You can also get all of your professional football news over at SB Nation’s NFL hub.

Prior to the 2011 season, the Minnesota Vikings signed defensive tackle Remi Ayodele with the idea that he could fill the void that Pat Williams left behind. Instead, Ayodele turned out to be ineffective and a horrible fit for the Vikings‘ defense.

Despite his lackluster performance, it seemed like the Vikings were unwilling to sever ties after investing a large lump of cash in the former New Orleans Saints defensive lineman. That was, until the NFL dropped the hammer on the whole “bountygate” fiasco.

Early in the 2012 offseason, it was discovered that the Saints and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams had implemented a bounty system on opposing players, including former Vikings quarterback Brett Favre during the 2009 NFC Championship Game. So once word spread, some hostility started to grow towards former Saints players, especially towards a certain one who was playing for the Vikings.

Finally, it appears that the burden has become too much to bear for the Vikings.

On Wednesday, March 21, the Vikings terminated the contract of Ayodele, who’s potentially facing a suspension from the league for his participation in the “bountygate” scandal.

Although players’ suspensions have yet to be handed down, they are expected after the NFL slapped Saints management with heavy suspensions and fines.

Ayodele was one part of the duo that put a vicious high-low hit on Favre back in 2009 that not only injured the veteran quarterback’s ankle, but also forced him into throwing an interception. It was later determined that a flag should have been thrown on the play.

Since signing him, the Vikings have paid Ayodele a total of $4.25 million ($3.565 signing bonus, $685K base salary). With his release, the rest of his three-year, $9 million contract will be erased from the books.

Even without the “bountygate” situation, release still seemed like a likely fate for Ayodele. Throughout the 2011 season, he was ineffective as the Vikings’ nose tackle. He struggled to command double teams and managed only 15 tackles and 1.5 sacks through 16 games (13 starts).

Especially with the recent re-signings of defensive tackles Letroy Guion and Fred Evans, both who are expected to play the nose tackle spot this upcoming season, it seemed that the Vikings were preparing for a future without Ayodele.

Whichever way you want to look at it, there were numerous reasons for the Vikings to send Ayodele packing. Whether it was due to the looming possibility of a suspension or his disappointing 2011 showing, his release was justified.

The Vikings will say that they let him go due to poor performance, but it just seems like too much of a coincidence for it to not be in some way tied to Ayodele’s involvement in “bountygate”.

Either way, he’s gone now. “Bountygate” was undoubtedly a horrendous situation that soiled the NFL name and the Saints franchise, but at least there’s some sort of silver lining.

Gil Alcaraz IV is a life-long follower of the Minnesota Vikings and the founder of TheVikingDen.com. For more Vikings/NFL coverage, follow him on Twitter or “like” The Viking Den on Facebook.

Read More: John Carlson (TE – MIN), Lex Hilliard (RB – MIA), Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings beefed up their stable of tailbacks on Sunday by agreeing to a one-year contract with former Miami Dolphins running back Lex Hilliard.

Hilliard, who lists at 5-foot-11 and 240 pounds, will add much needed depth to a position that has been debilitated by injuries in recent years. Despite only carrying the ball 16 times last season with Miami, Hilliard is expected to fight for time as a lead blocker and goal-line back.

A sixth-round draft pick in 2008, Hilliard played college ball in his home state of Montana for the Montana Grizzlies, where he accumulated 4,106 rushing yards and 50 touchdowns.

Seeing as how the Vikings shelled out $25 million to tight end John Carlson last week, it’s clear this organization is actively trying improve on the offensive side of the ball. Hilliard represents a small piece of the puzzle, but an important one nonetheless.

For more on the Minnesota Vikings, go to Daily Norseman. You can also get all of your professional football news over at SB Nation’s NFL hub.

The Minnesota Vikings agreed to a one-year contract with former Miami Dolphins running back Lex Hilliard, providing depth and capable blocking to a deep yet injury-plagued backfield.

Hilliard, who wasn’t tendered by the Dolphins as a restricted free agent, had 41 rushing yards and a touchdown on 16 carries last season. The Vikings signed the 5-foot-11, 240-pound Hilliard primarily for his blocking but consider him a capable runner as well.

Hilliard joins Adrian Peterson, Toby Gerhart, Caleb King, Jordan Todman, Ryan D’Imperio and Matt Asiata in the Vikings’ stable of running backs and fullbacks.

Hilliard will have a chance to earn the No. 3 job behind Peterson, who is recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament,

and Gerhart, who suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in the season finale against Chicago. The Vikings did not place a tender on restricted free agent running back Lorenzo Booker, who is unlikely to return.

Hilliard is the Vikings’ second free agent signing from another team. On Wednesday, the team signed former Seahawks tight end John Carlson to a five-year, $25-million deal.

Read More: Minnesota Vikings

The NFL is in the thick of the free agent season, with deals and meeting flying fast and furious ever since free agency opened on Tuesday. The Minnesota Vikings have been relatively quiet in their dealings thus far as they work on shoring up the team they will field in the fall of 2012. On Friday, the team made an interesting acquisition.

According to Tom Pelissero of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, the Vikings have signed defensive back Nick Taylor to a three-year contract. If you’ve never heard of Nick Taylor, that’s understandable. Taylor is a former point guard at Florida International University, but impressed at FIU’s pro day on Wednesday. He played on an arena league football team in 2011.

The move is certain to raise some eyebrows, but it will be exciting nevertheless to see how this unproven commodity works out for the Vikes.

For more on the Minnesota Vikings, go to Daily Norseman. You can also get all of your professional football news over at SB Nation’s NFL hub.

Zygi Wilf, left, and head coach Leslie Frazier. (Pioneer Press, File)

The Minnesota Vikings aren’t behaving like a team concerned about wanting to contend next season.

After finishing 3-13, the Vikings are $23 million under the $120.6 million salary cap. They have ample cap room to sign at least one prominent free agent. But that doesn’t appear likely after what they did on the first day of free agency.

Maybe they will sign some second-tier players – at best.

They even deferred until 2013 the extra $1.6 million in salary cap compensation the NFL had awarded because Dallas and Washington were improperly structuring contracts.

The Vikings are going to have a tough time competing against the rest of the NFC North again this season, after going 1-11 in intradivision games over the last two

seasons.

For now, the Vikings are committed to only $82 million – that’s actual dollars, not cap dollars – for their 2012 payroll. They could end up as the NFL’s lowest-spending team next season.

Follow Charley Walters at twitter.com/Charley_Walters

The North Metro Business Alliance has five words for anyone thinking a new Minnesota Vikings stadium should be built in Minneapolis – Do not forget Arden Hills.

On the eve of the first state Capitol hearing on a proposed $975 million stadium in Minneapolis, business leaders in Ramsey County touted the advantages Tuesday of moving the project back to Arden Hills. “We’re trying to refocus it back on Arden Hills,” said Tim Roche, the president of the Twin Cities North Chamber of Commerce.

Roche said many officials still believe the proposal to build the Vikings a $1.1 billion stadium in Ramsey County’s Arden Hills was dealt with unfairly by state officials, and that the plan to build it in Minneapolis not only has not been subject to the same scrutiny but contains significant disadvantages.

In a four-page comparison of the two stadium proposals, the business group said that the agreement between the state, city and the Vikings to build in Minneapolis was a “sweetheart deal for the team” and “provides major concessions to the team that were not included in the Ramsey County proposal.”

Among the differences, according to the business group:

– In Minneapolis, the Vikings will pay 60 percent of operating costs. In Arden Hills, the team would pay for all operating costs.

– In Minneapolis, the Vikings get all game-day revenues. In Arden Hills, the receipts from the team’s personal seat licenses were capped.

– In Minneapolis, the Vikings will not be required to open their financial books for review. In Arden Hills, they would be required.

– In Minneapolis, the stadium would not be subject to a metro significance review by the Metropolitan Council. In Arden Hills, the project was reviewed by the Met Council, which found flaws with it.

Ramsey County’s proposal to build the stadium in Arden Hills – the Vikings said for nearly a year it was the team’s preferred choice – fell in disfavor as Gov. Mark Dayton and city officials said that building in Minneapolis would be cheaper and require less surrounding infrastructure.

State officials also said that Ramsey County’s initial plan to levy a countywide sales tax to raise $350 million for the county’s stadium share was unworkable because the controversial project would face a citizen referendum.

The Minneapolis stadium would be built on the site of the Metrodome, where the team has played for the past 30 years.  Under the plan, the Vikings would contribute $427 million to the new stadium’s construction, the state would pay $398 million and the city would initially contribute $150 million.

“We stay in touch” with the Vikings, said Roche. “But I think, you know, they got to be friends with everybody.

“If everyone’s pointing to Minneapolis, they’re not going to kick a gift horse in the mouth,” he added.

The business group’s comparison of Arden Hills and Minneapolis came as another player tried to re-enter the stadium debate.

The White Earth Tribe said Tuesday that a private analysis showed the state would receive between $726 million and $1 billion in new revenue from a Twin Cities casino during its first five years. The tribe has proposed building a casino in the Twin Cities, possibly in Arden Hills alongside a new Vikings stadium, and said the state could use its share of the casino’s revenue for the stadium.
 

ST. PAUL, Minn., March 13 (UPI) — The girlfriend of Minnesota Vikings cornerback Chris Cook told Cook, during a phone call played for jurors at his assault trial, she wouldn’t change her story.

The football player is accused of attempting to strangle Chantel Baker during a fight they had at his Minnesota town home in October, the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press reported Tuesday.

The call jurors heard was one of three prosecutors submitted as evidence on the fourth day of testimony at Cook’s trial on charges of domestic assault by strangulation and third-degree assault.

At one point, Baker said she felt bad Cook was behind bars and he replied “No, you’re not.”

“It’s out of my hands,” Baker told him. “They asked me if you choked me and I said you choked me.”

Cook, 25, played his first season with the Vikings in 2010. His arrest caused him to miss a game against the Green Bay Packers.

Jury deliberations in the case could begin as early as Wednesday afternoon if defense attorneys wind up their case Tuesday, officials said.