MINNEAPOLIS — Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman on Monday said the team does not plan to use the franchise tag on any player scheduled to be a free agent next week.
Spielman, Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer, assistant coaches and scouts were among those attending the University of Minnesota's Pro Day workout. The pro day allows former Golden Gophers and players from smaller schools in the region to go through a series of timing, testing and on-field drills, similar to the NFL Combine last month in Indianapolis to further evaluate the field of prospects.
The Vikings are scheduled to select 11th overall when the 2015 NFL Draft begins April 30.
Spielman spoke with reporters, complimenting the job that the Golden Gophers do with their pro day.
Monday marked the deadline for teams to place a franchise tag on a player to keep him from hitting free agency. The Vikings will take a look at other teams' decisions on applying franchise tags to see what players will hit the market.
Zimmer said during the combine that the Vikings would not look for a running back via free agency and would not be highly aggressive when the market opens March 10. Spielman echoed **that statement** about being more passive than other teams at the beginning of free agency.
"I think more than likely, we'll just sit back, unless something unique pops up," Spielman said. "There's some things we're still working through internally."
Other highlights from Spielman's session:
— The Vikings are able to have open communication with Adrian Peterson now that the star running back's status has been changed from suspended to on the Commissioner's Exempt List.
"We are able to have communication now with Adrian," Spielman said. "We'll keep all those communications internal. I don't want to sit here and give you guys a blow-by-blow every day. I think it's been clearly stated that we want Adrian Peterson back. There's no question about the talent, and he's a unique talent, and he's under contract with us next year."
— Spielman said the Vikings would like to see veteran linebacker Chad Greenway remain with the team. There has been some speculation about Greenway's status in the media, but he said during the combine he is optimistic that he will **return for a 10th season** in Minnesota.
"Chad Greenway, I think everybody knows what type of player and person he's been and we'd love to have Chad Greenway finish as a Minnesota Viking," Spielman said. "He's under contract. There's no deadline. We're under the cap. There's no deadline (on making that decision)."
