After losing to the division rival Green Bay Packers on Saturday, the main topic of discussion surrounding the Minnesota Vikings isn’t if Adrian Peterson will be named NFL MVP, but whether or not wide receiver Percy Harvin will be returning to the team next season.
Head coach Leslie Frazier remains confident that Harvin will return despite confrontations between the two back in Dec. before the team place him on a season-ending injured reserve list. Frazier gave the typical response of a head coach in reference to Harvin’s status with the Vikings, but starting quarterback Christian Ponder took a different and possibly more honest approach to his teammate’s immediate future in Minnesota.
Ponder praised Harvin for a being a great teammate and a great player, but isn’t sure what the future holds in terms of Harvin playing for the Vikings next season via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk:
“I’m not sure, I don’t know,” Ponder told Paul Allen of KFAN on Tuesday. “We’ll see. I mean, we’ll see how everything shakes out. I’m not sure what Rick Spielman’s gonna be doing. Obviously, it’d be nice to have [Harvin]. He’s a heck of a player.”
Frazier’s vague comments on Harvin’s return and Ponder’s uncertainty surrounding his number one target’s future in Minnesota isn’t a good sign for the Vikings.
Without Harvin on the roster, the talent receiving corps in Minnesota goes down considerably and the mediocre passing attack of the Vikings will likely become a poor passing offense if the team can’t retain him.
Although the Vikings appear to be a team with potential moving forward, the once-promising team built around Peterson may start to fall apart without Harvin in the long-term plans. It’s no surprise that Harvin would be disappointed with his current status with the team considering no contract extension has been offered and the 24-year-old heading into the final year of his contract.
Harvin is set to make $1.55 million next season before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2014.
