Harvin excited for offense, season to start

Percy Harvin’s first two seasons with the Vikings have been productive, but he’s especially excited to see what Bill Musgrave’s offense produces once the regular season finally arrives.

The Vikings aren’t going to have a lot of their starters playing tomorrow night, but one player in particular is ready for the regular season to get underway.

Percy Harvin is readying himself for what he is convinced will be a big season, because, when asked what his role in the offense is going to be, all Harvin could do is smile.

“I’m going to do a little bit of everything,” Harvin said. “I’ll line up at different receiver spots. I’ll run the ball. I’ll return kicks. I’ll do whatever the coaches put in to do.”

Harvin’s role is expected to expand because, for the first time in his career, Harvin enters the season as the Vikings’ top receiver. His first two seasons, he was viewed as the third wide receiver behind Sidney Rice and Bernard Berrian. This year, it’s a different story.

“There are a lot of expectations, but no more than what I have for myself,” Harvin said. “I think this offense is going to work for all of us. I talked to [former Falcons receiver Michael] Jenkins about how Coach [Bill] Musgrave’s offense worked and he said that we have the personnel to get it done. With Adrian [Peterson] running the ball, our receivers and our tight ends, we’re going to be able to do a lot of things.”

Harvin has been solid in his first two NFL seasons. As a rookie, he earned offensive rookie of the year after a 60-catch, 790-yard season that ended at the NFC Championship Game. Last year, despite a down season for quarterback Brett Favre, Harvin had 71 catches for 871 yards and five touchdowns.

While the Musgrave offense has been introduced slowly, the elements that were held back early on following the lockout are being brought out with each practice. He said the players are getting excited, but they’re waiting for one thing – when the games count starting Sept. 11.

“We’re ready to get going,” Harvin said. “We still have a couple of weeks of work before we get there, but we’re excited about getting things started against San Diego. We’re ready.”

WEDNESDAY NOTES

In an effort to reduce costs for a proposed stadium, the Vikings have removed the retractable roof component of the stadium, which should lower the bottom line of the deal by approximately $30 million.

There is growing buzz that Tennessee will get a deal done with running back Chris Johnson, which should be of interest to Vikings fans because Adrian Peterson can expect to get that much or more once Johnson agrees to his new deal and raises the bar.

The Eagles rewarded quarterback Michael Vick in a big way Tuesday, agreeing to a six-year $100 million contract that includes $40 million in guaranteed money. It is the second time in his career that he has signed a contract worth $100 million or more. He signed a $130 million deal with Atlanta that gave him $37 million in guaranteed money, but played only two years on the deal before being sent to prison for dog fighting.

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John Holler has been writing about the Vikings for more than a decade for Viking Update. Follow Viking Update on Twitter and discuss this topic on our message boards. To become a subscriber to the Viking Update web site or magazine, click here.