ESPN’s Kevin Seifert doesn’t know why the Minnesota Vikings are interested in signing the “washed-up” Javon Walker, as Seifert’s ESPN colleague Adam Schefter first reported earlier today. In this blog post, he outlines why the pending Walker signing puzzles him. Seifert says “there are dozens of younger and faster […] receivers available.” And though Walker’s best years did indeed come with Brett Favre as his quarterback, Seifert notes that they split acrimoniously:
Favre publicly and extensively criticized Walker for holding out from a mandatory minicamp during a contract dispute. Walker eventually sought and received a trade in 2006 in part because of Favre’s comments.
But if Walker and Favre put aside their differences, Walker poses minimal risk for the Vikings, whose receivers are injury-ridden. If he’s fully recovered from the Las Vegas mugging ordeal in 2008, he could be useful.