Six years ago, guard Steve Hutchinson signed a seven-year, $49 million contract with the Vikings. The seventh year is this year, and the Vikings may not be interested in paying Hutchinson $7 million at age 35.
And Hutchinson knows it.
“I know what the cap situation is and all that, but it’s out of my control,” Hutchinson tells the Associated Press.
Hutchinson realizes that he could be asked to take a pay cut, or that he could be flat-out dumped. “Any player has to worry about that in the NFL,” Hutchinson said.
If he’s cut, the man who drafted him in Seattle and the coach who finagled a way to get him to Minnesota should come together to find a way to get him to Cleveland, where Mike Holmgren is now the team president and Brad Childress is now the offensive coordinator.
Even at an advanced age and with skills that are starting to decline, Hutchinson brings leadership and toughness to any team. The Browns could definitely use some of it. Or maybe a lot of it.