DE Udeze placed on NFI list: The Vikings want Kenechi Udeze to focus on his fight against leukemia and not worry about his financial situation. The defensive end was placed on the reserve-non-football-illness list Friday, coach Brad Childress announced. That makes him ineligible to participate in the 2008 season, but guarantees him his $807,500 salary for the year. Udeze revealed two weeks ago that the cancer was in remission, and that his older brother has matching bone marrow for a pending transplant. "He can focus on getting well. He's done a great job with that so far. He's been positive. He's been upbeat," said Childress, who praised owner Zygi Wilf for the decision. (Updated 05/05/2008).
Injury Report
Leukemia - NFI. Out for the 2008 season (Updated - 5/5/08)
Fantasy Analysis
Udeze may still come into play in 2009 as a solid run-stopping defensive end. However, Fantasy owners can drop him from 2008 rank lists at this time. (Updated 05/05/2008).
DE Kenechi Udeze, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in February, was set to undergo a bone marrow transplant early this month. Udeze's brother, Thomas Barnes, proved to be a 100 percent match and doctors are optimistic about Udeze's chances of making a recovery. His cancer was declared to be in remission in April. Udeze is confident he will be playing football again for the Vikings in 2009. The team placed him on the reserve/non-football injury (NFI) list this spring, meaning they were not obligated to pay him for this season. The team, however, said it would pay Udeze his base salary of $807,500 for 2008 so he could concentrate on his recovery. This was to have been the final season of the five-year contract Udeze signed with the Vikings in 2004 after the team made him its first-round pick. But under the rules of the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement, "a player on NFI who is in the final year of his contract will have his contract tolled." That means Udeze's contract won't run during the 2008 season and thus now will go through 2009. "Isn't that crazy?" Udeze said. "It will be good because you can work up your resume again, show everybody that you're healthy again." 07/12/2008
No information available at this time.
DE Udeze placed on NFI list: The Vikings want Kenechi Udeze to focus on his fight against leukemia and not worry about his financial situation. The defensive end was placed on the reserve-non-football-illness list Friday, coach Brad Childress announced. That makes him ineligible to participate in the 2008 season, but guarantees him his $807,500 salary for the year. Udeze revealed two weeks ago that the cancer was in remission, and that his older brother has matching bone marrow for a pending transplant. "He can focus on getting well. He's done a great job with that so far. He's been positive. He's been upbeat," said Childress, who praised owner Zygi Wilf for the decision. (Updated 05/05/2008).
Injury Report
Leukemia - NFI. Out for the 2008 season (Updated - 5/5/08)
Fantasy Analysis
Udeze may still come into play in 2009 as a solid run-stopping defensive end. However, Fantasy owners can drop him from 2008 rank lists at this time. (Updated 05/05/2008).
Kansas City's looking pretty good with its Jared Allen trade to Minnesota.
The Chiefs could end up drafting Chris Long, too, Pete Prisco says in his draft notebook, while
the Fins may go after Jake Long's Michigan teammate, Chad Henne.
All-Pro defensive end Jared Allen was traded from Kansas City to Minnesota in a blockbuster deal, making the Chiefs one of the major players in this weekend's NFL draft and the Vikings a serious contender in the NFC.
