Get On the Bus, Gus

Remember this blast from the past? Gus Frerotte may end up being part of the Vikings' present and future if meetings go well today at Winter Park.

The Vikings have made an effort to address almost all of their perceived weaknesses during the offseason with one notable exception – quarterback. It hasn’t been due to a lack of effort. The team attempted to swing a trade for Texans backup QB Sage Rosenfels and expressed an interest in free agents Cleo Lemon and Josh McCown, who wound up signing with the Jaguars and Dolphins, respectively.

The next step in that process comes today, as the team welcomes former Viking Gus Frerotte for a visit to Winter Park. Frerotte has been in the league for 14 seasons and spent the 2003-04 seasons with the Vikings. He followed Scott Linehan to the Dolphins in 2005 when Linehan was hired as the team’s offensive coordinator and, when Linehan got the head coaching job in 2006 with the Rams, one of the first players he brought in was Frerotte. However, when the Rams signed former starter Trent Green to a free-agent deal earlier this month, the handwriting was on the wall for Frerotte.

As it currently stands, the Vikings have just two quarterbacks on the roster – Tarvaris Jackson and Brooks Bollinger. Frerotte could be the missing piece to that puzzle.

WEDNESDAY NOTES
* Frerotte visited the Packers on Tuesday, but apparently has left without a contract offer. The Packers have a relatively well-publicized vacancy at quarterback.
* Rick Spielman and some Vikings coaches were at the Pro Day workout of Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan Tuesday. While there seems to be virtually no chance that Ryan ends up with the Vikings – he is expected to go either No. 1 overall to the Dolphins or No. 3 to the Rams – the team is doing what it calls its “due diligence” in evaluating player talent wherever it presents itself in the event of a draft-day trade.
* A surprise workout at BC’s Pro Day was done by alum William Green, a former first-round pick who last played in 2005. If his 40 times were any indication (4.65 and 4.68 seconds), he may have been wasting his time.
* The Vikings are a team quietly being floated around the rumor mill as a potential trade suitor for defensive end Jason Taylor. While both Taylor and Bill Parcells have indicated they intend to be together with the Dolphins this year, it is still expected that the Dolphins will listen to trade offers for Taylor, who would likely cost a second-round draft pick. Given Spielman’s history with Miami and the Vikings' need for a double-digit sack producer, they seem like a logical fit … at least to those working the rumor mill. Taylor is currently working out on the inexplicable hit show “Dancing With the Stars.”
* With all the quarterbacks that have been signed or traded for, there remains almost no interest in signing Daunte Culpepper, who remains a free agent three weeks after the signing period opened.
* Kenechi Udeze, who is undergoing treatment for leukemia, visited Winter Park Tuesday.
* Vikings coach Brad Childress said Tuesday that the status of DE Erasmus James, who has had three surgeries in the last year, will be determined in stages, with key progress reports at the start of traning camp and the start of the regular season.
* A day after the Jaguars website hinted that defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey may have had knee surgery – which could have greatly dropped his stock – Dorsey’s reps told the NFL Network that there was no truth to the rumor and that Dorsey hasn’t had knee surgery since the end of the season.
* Titans center Kevin Mawae is expected to replace Troy Vincent as the president of the NFL Players Association, according to the Web site Pro Football Talk.