What's Really Going on With Sid the Kid

Reportedly nobody outside of the organization knew Vikings WR Sidney Rice was hurt until his agent, Drew Rosenhaus (Next Question!) tweeted about it in July..........an injury sustained in the NFC Championship game. Although nobody associated with the Vikings think that he's faking this, it does throw up some red flags and raise my eyebrows somewhat.

In most player/team contract issues, I more often than not side with the player. I may be in the minority, but I like seeing players get big contracts, because of how much the owner is making off of them. But in this case I can see both sides of the issue. From Rice's point of view, he will say that he's emerged as the top pass catcher on a team full of weapons, with 83 receptions, 1,312 yards and 8 TD's in the regular season, and also 10 receptions, 184 yards and 4 TD's, in the posteseason. Also he became Brett Favre's number one target, and if they want #4 to come back to the team they need Sidney. That type of production should warrant a pay raise. From the Vikings side of things they could argue that Rice has been injured quite a bit during his career, and they need to see another year of production. Also how much did the Favre effect have on him? Was the one huge year a fluke?

There is no doubt in my mind there is something wrong with the hip, but when you read between the lines, consider the team didn't know a thing about it until the sleazebag agent Tweeted about it, something is up.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement issue may have something to do with this. There is a potential for a lockout next spring. There are around a dozen or so Vikings players who could legitimately pine for an extension to set themselves up better financially in case of a lockout.

He's seen three specialists who have all told him that surgery is not necessary but could be a good idea.......if no new talks arise about this contract will he decide to undergo the knife?

This is obviously a situation the Vikings and their fans need to keep an eye on, with the other injuries on the team in camp, losing Rice would be a major hit. Hopefully it's not serious and he'll be able to play through it, and get a huge deal worked out soon. There is so much young talent on this team that money is becoming an underlying issue for the stars, and it will take a creative effort from the front office to get things done.