Reunited (And It Feels So Good)

The Vikings are expected to announce in the coming days the signing of personnel assistant George Paton, who has worked closely with Vikings V.P. Rick Spielman both in Chicago and Miami.

According to multiple reports, Rick Spielman is putting the band back together with long-time friend and business associate George Paton – not the dead general of a similar spelling, but the Dolphins director of pro personnel since 2001.

Paton and Spielman have a history together. Paton began his administrative career with the Bears in 1997, while Spielman was director of pro personnel. When Spielman got the V.P. of player personnel job with the Dolphins in 2000, Paton followed him there a year later.

Neither the Vikings nor the Bears have confirmed that Paton will be hired and it is expected that he will be directly under Spielman on the organizational tree – overseeing the college and pro scouting departments.

THURSDAY NOTES
* Wide receiver Maurice Mann, who missed most of last weekend’s minicamp due to hamstring soreness, was cut Wednesday.
* Randy Moss was the center of attention at Patriots minicamp Wednesday, where teammates lined up to give glowing testimonials about his hard work since joining the team, including team leaders Tom Brady and Tedy Bruschi.
* There has been speculation that the Patriots, Rams, Lions and Jaguars might be interested in trading for Daunte Culpepper or signing him if he’s released by the Dolphins.
* It will be almost impossible to trade Culpepper unless he tears up his current contract. He is set to make a base salary of $5.5 million this year, $6 million in 2008-09, $7 million in 2010, $8 million in 2011, $9 million in 2012 and $10 million in 2013 – a lot of cake for a player that some are convinced will never be the same QB he was pre-injury.
* Pat Williams sat out yesterday’s OTA practice and is expected to sit out today as well to give his knees a rest.
* Weather again forced the Vikings' morning practice session inside, which has become a regular occurrence since minicamp last weekend.
* Former Viking Mike McMahon still tries to look the part of a NFL quarterback, driving a Cadillac Escalade. But, there are two problems with that. One, he isn’t a NFL QB. Two, he got his Escalade stolen Tuesday.