3. Minnesota Vikings
Free Agency: The Vikings are another team that signed a few solid players without breaking the bank. They signed Greg Jennings which is a great pickup. They re-signed Jerome Felton, Erin Henderson, Phil Loadholt and Jerome Simpson which all of them are important to this team. They also added quarterback Matt Cassel to push starting quarterback Christian Ponder. All in all, this was a decent free agency period, but the draft is where they really improved this off-season.
Trades: The Vikings had one of the biggest trades this off-season that involved Percy Harvin. Harvin had a contract dispute with the Viking that lead to the trade. Both sides could not agree on a contract and things got so bad that the Vikings decided to part ways with the dynamic receiver and send him to the Seattle Seahawks. In return, the Vikings received the Seahawks 2013 first round pick, a 2013 seventh round pick, and a 2014 third round pick. This lead the Vikings to use these picks as ammo in the 2013 NFL Draft.
Draft: This is where the Vikings improved their team the most. The Vikings were able to acquire three first round picks which is unheard of. The first round picks were defensive tackle Shariff Floyd, cornerback Xavier Rhodes, and wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson. Floyd was a steal with the 23rd overall selection. He was supposed to be off the board by the fifth pick, but somehow slipped to the Vikings. This will improve the defensive line and he will take over Kevin Williams when he is gone. Rhodes should be in play for the starting cornerback job since they parted ways with Antoine Winfield.
Overall: The Vikings had a great off-season. They got rid of their headache with Percy Harvin and acquired two great receivers in Jennings and Patterson. They upgraded their defense with solid draft picks that will become leaders on this team for years to come. However, it all starts and ends with Christian Ponder. Ponder needs to improve the most on this team because they provided him with two great wide receivers and a upgraded defense. If Ponder can have a solid season and if the defense can hold their ground, look for the Vikings to be in the middle of that battle for the NFC North title.