Who are these bleepin' guys?

The Vikings sure know how to make a splash in free agency don't they?

The rumors are true, the team signed two guys you have never heard of before.

Yes, that's right -- the team now has a tight end named Visanthe Shiancoe (vi-sahn-tee SHANK-oh) and a linebacker named Vinny Ciurciu (church-choo.) If Sid Hartman has to pronounce those names during the same conversation, he might not make it out alive.

I can't wait to hear how Greg Coleman will pronounce those names during Vikings radio broadcasts next year.

Meanwhile, the Vikes cut three players who were actually pretty useful to them -- or at least in theory COULD have been useful if Coach Quiet knew what he was doing.

Freddy Smoot is gone. He's back in D.C., reattached to his "billacal cord" as Stephon Marbury would say. Jermaine Wiggins and Mike Rosenthal were also dismissed and while they haven't landed in good systems yet, they will.

The Wiggins cut is disturbing if only because he lead the team in receptions in both 2004 and 2005.

But under Coach Quiet, he slipped to just 46 grabs in 2006.

Let's look at this in a simple way: When Brad Johnson specializes in the 5-yard-out and/or the 5-yard-under, why isn't the tight end more heavily involved with the offense? How simple can this be?

If I ran the Vikings-- or any other NFL franchise -- I would do some basic research before hiring a coach. I would make sure to play against them in Madden Football for a full day. Just invite them over, order some pizza, drink some beer, and play video games with them -- because you can learn a lot about a person and his football acumen by playing Madden.

Play the game for an hour and you can see how they run plays against certain defense, how they utilize the strengths of their team, how they overcome changes in defensive and offensive schemes.

How can you not utilize a pass-catching tight end when your quarterback has the arm strength of a high school option quarterback?

If my buddy Wide ran the Vikings, they would have been turning Wiggins into a Pro Bowler and play-actioning everyone to death with Chester Taylor and Tony Richardson in the flat.

Seriously, this game isn't that complicated.

Let hope Coach Quiet and his kick-ass offense will invest in a PS3 during the off-season.

Better yet, go sign Kevin Curtis to a long-term deal so you can cut him in 2008. I really miss Mike Tice.

And let's not even talk about The Sheriff, I might get emotional.