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          NFL Nation

          Vikings Twitter mailbag part 1: Beasley, Jennings, Loadholt, Peterson

          • Ben Goessling, ESPN Staff WriterApr 25, 2015, 08:00 AM ET
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            • Previously covered Vikings for St. Paul Pioneer Press
            • Also covered Minnesota Twins, Minnesota Wild and Washington Nationals
            • Twin Cities native and University of Minnesota graduate
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          MINNEAPOLIS -- Thanks to all of you who submitted questions for this week's Minnesota Vikings mailbag. You can submit them at any point during the week on Twitter, using the hashtag #VikingsMail.

          @GoesslingESPN: Good morning, everyone. A week from Saturday, we'll be gearing up for the final day of the draft. Today, we'll start by talking about a first-round candidate on whom we haven't spent much time. But yes, Andrew, I think Vic Beasley would be worth a strong look if he's still there at No. 11. He might be one of the more natural pass-rushers in the draft, with a fast first step and good power for a guy his size. In my opinion, he'd have more value to the Vikings if they were sure he could rush from a three-point stance, since they also need help in their defensive end rotation and Beasley's most obvious fit is at the strong-side linebacker position Anthony Barr already plays. But there's a similar benefit to drafting Beasley as there is to taking Randy Gregory: A defense with him, Everson Griffen, Barr and Harrison Smith is awfully tough to prepare for. The Vikings used Barr as a defensive end in nickel situations last year, and while they scrapped that look in the middle of the year, they might go back to it if they had another linebacker like Beasley to occupy a spot in their double-A gap blitz package. The bottom line is, Beasley has enough of what the Vikings would like that I wouldn't rule him out, even if it might take a little work to find the right fit for him. I'm sure Mike Zimmer wouldn't mind having that problem.

          @GoesslingESPN: We've seen this play out time and again: Generally, a veteran player is more willing to take less money from a new team than he is from the team that had originally signed him to a bigger contract. Why is that? Some of it is probably a pride thing, but some of it is probably timing: The Vikings approached Greg Jennings about restructuring his contract and released him once the sides couldn't come to an agreement. At the time, Jennings might have thought he'd have a more robust market in free agency than he turned out to have. Might as well not accept less money from your current team until you know what's out there, right? As far as matching the contract ... the Vikings don't have a right of first refusal on players they release. I don't know that they would have spent that much on another receiver at this point, and after the two sides couldn't agree to a restructured deal, I doubt Jennings' camp was going to come back to the Vikings with the Miami Dolphins' offer. Essentially, this went the way it usually does with veteran players. And with Joe Philbin -- his old offensive coordinator in Green Bay -- Jennings landed in a good spot.

          @GoesslingESPN: I don't think I'd go quite that far, but Phil Loadholt certainly has some things to prove this season. He turned 29 in January, is returning from a torn pectoral muscle and wasn't having one of his better seasons even before he got hurt. Loadholt is due to count $6.75 million against the cap this season, with a $7.75 million cap hit coming in 2016. The only dead money in his deal is the last half of his $7 million signing bonus from his 2013 contract. By next spring, when Loadholt is 30 and starting the final year of his deal, the Vikings would face just a $1.75 million cap hit for cutting him, while reaping a cap savings of $6 million. Does that mean Loadholt's job is on the line? No. But the currents change quickly in the NFL, and a solid 2015 season is important for Loadholt if he wants to maximize the final year of his contract in 2016.

          @GoesslingESPN: As in, pin needy teams to trade for Adrian Peterson by ensuring they won't be able to draft one of the top backs on the market? That's an interesting -- and might I say, diabolical -- scenario. Well done! I suppose this is possible, but I don't think the Vikings would devote the 11th overall pick in the draft to something like that. I'm sure they're aware their leverage would improve if Gurley and Melvin Gordon were gone. But I don't think the Vikings are out there actively soliciting offers for Peterson. They plan to keep him, and it's going to take a lot to move them from that position. They have enough other needs that the easiest way to improve their team is to fill one of those at No. 11 and keep Peterson. The running back class is also deep enough that teams could find another solid back in a later round, so I don't know that this kind of strategy to protect a trade market for Peterson would work, anyway. It's certainly interesting to think about, though.

          We'll wrap it up here for the day and come back with another round of the mailbag Sunday. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday.