Jared Allen says he’s ‘all in’ for Vikings
By Josh Sanchez
Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen was one of the biggest names involved in heavy trade rumors leading up to yesterday’s NFL trade deadline, so you couldn’t blame him if he felt a bit upset with the team for trying to move him.
However, the five-time Pro Bowler appears to understand that it is all business.
Allen doesn’t seem bothered at all by the trade rumors, and he said he is happy to remain with the team.
“As a matter of fact, I take it as a sign of respect that they still think I have value,” Allen said, via Tom Pelissero of USA Today. “But I’m excited to be a Viking. I really am. I’m excited to try to right this ship, and I’m all in.
“The end of the year will take care of itself, and I’m sure at the end of the year when it’s all said and done, I’ll sit down with [General Manager] Rick [Spielman] and Rob [Brzezinski, the Vikings’ vice president of football operations] and we’ll all have an honest conversation of where we’re at, what we want to plan on doing, and whatever happens will happen then.
“Right now, it’s about winning football games. We have nine games left and a lot can happen in nine games, and we’ve made runs here before.”
Being part of trade rumors is part of the business, and it should be a bit of an honor that teams are interested in your services. If Allen would have been able to land in Seattle or Denver, he would have been thrilled. However, he’s a professional so he will say that he’s just as happy to stay in Minnesota — even if he isn’t.