Edinger In, Zygi Next

The Vikings got one important piece of business done Tuesday and expect the final piece of their extreme makeover to be completed this morning with the sale of the team expected to go through.

The Vikings' initial lack of interest in kicker Paul Edinger seemed a bit odd at first look. And why not? Edinger, who was released over the weekend by the Bears, was entering the third year of a five-year contract created by the Vikings when Edinger was a restricted free agent in 2003. The Bears matched the offer to keep him in Chicago, but after a sub-par 2004 season and the signing of former Viking Doug Brien, he became expendable.

The deal is for one year and, unlike the Titans and Bills -- both of whom had expressed an interest -- the Vikings had the available money to make a deal work. The contract calls for a base salary of $540,000, but if Edinger scores 80-85 points, the deal jumps to $690,000. If he scores 86 points or more, it will increase to $790,000.

The contract allows Edinger to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2005 season, but sets in motion what promises to be a spirited training camp battle between him and Aaron Elling.

While Edinger became the big news Tuesday, that was supposed to be the domain of Zygi Wilf -- whom many thought would be approved for ownership Tuesday. Instead, NFL lawyers put the final touches on overseeing of the sale language in the contract. For that reason, a vote on the sale was delayed until this morning.

VU has been told that, barring an unforseen hurdle, the transfer from Red McCombs to Wilf will be approved by the NFL owners today -- Wilf needs 24 of 32 votes for the sale to be finalized.

When the word becomes official, VU will pass it along.