I was surprised to see John Sullivan still in the league....

And he's playing really well, too. 

Glad for him and at the same time, wondering why he was released in Minnesota. 

@"StickyBun" said: Glad for him and at the same time, wondering why he was released in Minnesota. 

@"StickyBun" said: Glad for him and at the same time, wondering why he was released in Minnesota. 

@"ArizonaViking" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Glad for him and at the same time, wondering why he was released in Minnesota. 

I believe after a couple of back surgeries he wasn't up to full strength and probably needed a couple of seasons to get back where he was.  I guess the Vikings weren't willing to wait and his contract was probably increasing each season.

The tragedy was that Sullivan, Brandon Fusco, and Phil Loadholt all ended the 2015 season injured, but the Vikings counted on them as starters. (Well, they did sign Andre Smith to compete with Loadholt, because another injury-plagued lineman must be good..) Sullivan and Loadholt were not ready to come back. Loadholt retired from football, but we cut Sullivan immediately, and Fusco played poorly in 2016 because he wasn't fully recovered and we cut him after the season. But, given enough time to recover, both Sullivan and Fusco continued effective, if not stellar, careers starting for playoff contenders.

"So many injuries no one could have predicted" was a chief scapegoat for the 2016 8-8 disappointment, but 3 big injuries were already present, but not accounted for, prior to the season. Sullivan and Fusco should have been on IR for the 2016 season and maybe back on our line last year.

This past approach really makes me concerned Vikings management are going to assume Nick Easton and Aviante Collins will both be fully recovered at full strength to start 2019, and use them as a reason to de-prioritize the offensive line. Geez....if a player on our already-good defense misses a few games, or takes a couple years to learn the NFL, or is aging, or MIGHT leave as a free agent in a couple years, this team starts panicking and talking themselves into drafting defenders early or signing big free agents. But if our OL has a former UDFA or waiver acquisition play well for half a season, even if he ends up on IR, they ASSUME this historically-atrocious line will magically get better without personnel upgrades.

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Glad for him and at the same time, wondering why he was released in Minnesota. 

@"ArizonaViking" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Glad for him and at the same time, wondering why he was released in Minnesota. 

I believe after a couple of back surgeries he wasn't up to full strength and probably needed a couple of seasons to get back where he was.  I guess the Vikings weren't willing to wait and his contract was probably increasing each season.

@"greediron" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Glad for him and at the same time, wondering why he was released in Minnesota. 

@"ArizonaViking" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Glad for him and at the same time, wondering why he was released in Minnesota. 

I believe after a couple of back surgeries he wasn't up to full strength and probably needed a couple of seasons to get back where he was.  I guess the Vikings weren't willing to wait and his contract was probably increasing each season.

that is exactly why.  this is another case of short term memory loss,  Sully was always a guy that relied on leverage and technique more than brute strength to play and his back basically cost him 2 years while still in purple and would have taken another  year as he went to washington if memory serves and basically sat out there.  he was a good center for us early on,  but the injuries started to pile up.  No regrets by me on walking away when they did.

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"greediron" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Glad for him and at the same time, wondering why he was released in Minnesota. 

@"ArizonaViking" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Glad for him and at the same time, wondering why he was released in Minnesota. 

I believe after a couple of back surgeries he wasn't up to full strength and probably needed a couple of seasons to get back where he was.  I guess the Vikings weren't willing to wait and his contract was probably increasing each season.

that is exactly why.  this is another case of short term memory loss,  Sully was always a guy that relied on leverage and technique more than brute strength to play and his back basically cost him 2 years while still in purple and would have taken another  year as he went to washington if memory serves and basically sat out there.  he was a good center for us early on,  but the injuries started to pile up.  No regrets by me on walking away when they did.

agreed.  He may have played in Washington, but I don't think he played well if he did.  I liked him as well and wish him luck.  But we weren't going to wait for the when and what if here. 

What is it about Ex-Viking Centers going on to win elsewhere?  Birk and I think one played for Manning in Indy as well.

@"greediron" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Glad for him and at the same time, wondering why he was released in Minnesota. 

@"ArizonaViking" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Glad for him and at the same time, wondering why he was released in Minnesota. 

I believe after a couple of back surgeries he wasn't up to full strength and probably needed a couple of seasons to get back where he was.  I guess the Vikings weren't willing to wait and his contract was probably increasing each season.

that is exactly why.  this is another case of short term memory loss,  Sully was always a guy that relied on leverage and technique more than brute strength to play and his back basically cost him 2 years while still in purple and would have taken another  year as he went to washington if memory serves and basically sat out there.  he was a good center for us early on,  but the injuries started to pile up.  No regrets by me on walking away when they did.

@"Jor-El" said:

@"greediron" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Glad for him and at the same time, wondering why he was released in Minnesota. 

@"ArizonaViking" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Glad for him and at the same time, wondering why he was released in Minnesota. 

I believe after a couple of back surgeries he wasn't up to full strength and probably needed a couple of seasons to get back where he was.  I guess the Vikings weren't willing to wait and his contract was probably increasing each season.

that is exactly why.  this is another case of short term memory loss,  Sully was always a guy that relied on leverage and technique more than brute strength to play and his back basically cost him 2 years while still in purple and would have taken another  year as he went to washington if memory serves and basically sat out there.  he was a good center for us early on,  but the injuries started to pile up.  No regrets by me on walking away when they did.

agreed.  He may have played in Washington, but I don't think he played well if he did.  I liked him as well and wish him luck.  But we weren't going to wait for the when and what if here. 

@"Jor-El" said:

@"greediron" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Glad for him and at the same time, wondering why he was released in Minnesota. 

@"ArizonaViking" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Glad for him and at the same time, wondering why he was released in Minnesota. 

I believe after a couple of back surgeries he wasn't up to full strength and probably needed a couple of seasons to get back where he was.  I guess the Vikings weren't willing to wait and his contract was probably increasing each season.

that is exactly why.  this is another case of short term memory loss,  Sully was always a guy that relied on leverage and technique more than brute strength to play and his back basically cost him 2 years while still in purple and would have taken another  year as he went to washington if memory serves and basically sat out there.  he was a good center for us early on,  but the injuries started to pile up.  No regrets by me on walking away when they did.

agreed.  He may have played in Washington, but I don't think he played well if he did.  I liked him as well and wish him luck.  But we weren't going to wait for the when and what if here. 

@"Jor-El" said:

@"greediron" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Glad for him and at the same time, wondering why he was released in Minnesota. 

@"ArizonaViking" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Glad for him and at the same time, wondering why he was released in Minnesota. 

I believe after a couple of back surgeries he wasn't up to full strength and probably needed a couple of seasons to get back where he was.  I guess the Vikings weren't willing to wait and his contract was probably increasing each season.

that is exactly why.  this is another case of short term memory loss,  Sully was always a guy that relied on leverage and technique more than brute strength to play and his back basically cost him 2 years while still in purple and would have taken another  year as he went to washington if memory serves and basically sat out there.  he was a good center for us early on,  but the injuries started to pile up.  No regrets by me on walking away when they did.

agreed.  He may have played in Washington, but I don't think he played well if he did.  I liked him as well and wish him luck.  But we weren't going to wait for the when and what if here. 

@"greediron" said:

@"Jor-El" said:

@"greediron" said:

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Glad for him and at the same time, wondering why he was released in Minnesota. 

@"ArizonaViking" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Glad for him and at the same time, wondering why he was released in Minnesota. 

I believe after a couple of back surgeries he wasn't up to full strength and probably needed a couple of seasons to get back where he was.  I guess the Vikings weren't willing to wait and his contract was probably increasing each season.

that is exactly why.  this is another case of short term memory loss,  Sully was always a guy that relied on leverage and technique more than brute strength to play and his back basically cost him 2 years while still in purple and would have taken another  year as he went to washington if memory serves and basically sat out there.  he was a good center for us early on,  but the injuries started to pile up.  No regrets by me on walking away when they did.

agreed.  He may have played in Washington, but I don't think he played well if he did.  I liked him as well and wish him luck.  But we weren't going to wait for the when and what if here. 

Why not? This thread has shown 3 examples of the Vikings letting a center walk and then seeing him play effectively for another team. Fusco is a 4th lineman. Doesn't that kind of scream, "We should stop dumping guys too early," or even, "This team's medical staff makes a lot of bad evaluations"??  Yet the Vikings waited a couple years for the Sharrif Floyd dream. Yes, we owed Floyd, but I believe Sullivan and Fusco were both on our "dead cap" list for a year after leaving.
Greediron, maybe you were actually being critical of the organization for giving up too soon, and if that's so, forgive me for mistaking your statement as a case of defending the team's decisions.

I am happy for him. I remember that his wife was really concerned for him. Who could blame her, back surgery is scary stuff. I wish him well.