Hide Your Players, It's the Vikings!

The Minnesota Vikings' Visanthe Shiancoe, left, and Adrian Peterson celebrate after Mr. Shiancoe's touchdown catch Jan. 3.

Minnesota Storms to the Playoffs by Plundering Other Teams' Top Free Agents; 'It Never Snows Here'

By REED ALBERGOTTI
WSJ

One of the most sacred commandments of the NFL is that elite players aren't supposed to change uniforms. The league's rules and customs are explicitly designed to discourage this. And when players do move, common sense tells you they usually target teams in glamorous towns with championship pedigrees.

But for the first time in NFL history, one franchise is threatening to upturn both of these orthodoxies. And it's not the team you'd expect.

The Minnesota Vikings have never won a Super Bowl. They play in a drafty old dome in a sensible Midwestern city where the average low temperature in January is four degrees.

But in each of the past four seasons, the Vikings have used a combination of charm, shoe leather, a private jet, clever legal maneuvers and gobs of cash to craft a roster that's full of the kinds of gifted free agents who almost never become free. While most NFL teams have very few imported stars, half of the Vikings' current starters—from quarterback Brett Favre and guard Steve Hutchinson to Pro-Bowl defensive end Jared Allen—were drafted or signed by other teams.

(More here.)