Antoine Winfield joked that he had a new role this offseason when free agency came around: general manager.

He called and gave Vikings coach Brad Childress his opinion about players available on the market.

"I was the makeshift GM," Winfield said, grinning. "I'd call him, 'Hey, so-and-so is out there. I know we got the money. We can grab him.' It was all in fun. We were trying to get the best players we can in here to try to win a championship."

Actually, Winfield said he had some fairly serious talks with Childress about free agents. And after a three-day minicamp ended Sunday, Winfield liked what he saw from the new class.

"I give it an A-plus," Winfield said. "At every position they brought in some players that are

Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield has offered coach Brad Childress plenty of advice on free agent moves during the offseason. (Staff)
going to help us this year — safety, wide receiver, D-end. We're expecting big things this year."

Childress described the back-and-forth with his veteran cornerback regarding free agents as "amusing."

"I get free advice all the time," Childress said, "with the emphasis on free, from lots of different pundits and fans and players. You sort through it, and you have fun with it."

Winfield didn't wind up having as much success in free agency as he would have liked. His pitches involved other players — "we'll leave them out of the discussion" — so he can't brag too much. But he enjoyed the communication with Childress.

"There were some players out there, and I thought they would be a great addition to our team,

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and they would definitely help us out this year," Winfield said. "He had an open line. I would call him a few times. We would talk, and we would try to make some things happen, and we did."

The free-agent signings of receiver Bernard Berrian and safety Madieu Williams generated the biggest buzz. Defensive end Jared Allen was acquired in a trade with Kansas City. Added to the core of returning Vikings with the projected growth of quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, the Vikings are a trendy pick to win the NFC North and advance in the playoffs.

"It's all about confidence," Winfield said. "Our confidence level right now is real high. We know we have a good team, but it's all about putting it together."

In Berrian, the Vikings signed a receiver who will be a threat deep down the field and another option for Jackson. Winfield lauded Berrian's speed and ability to catch the ball. Berrian made a nice adjustment along the sideline on a deep pass from Jackson during Saturday's morning practice.

"That was a great move," Winfield said of signing Berrian. "One thing you want to do, especially having (Adrian Peterson) in the backfield, is stretch the defense. You want a guy outside who's capable of going down the field, making big plays for us."

As for Williams, his range impressed Winfield, one of the team's leaders on defense, during the minicamp.

"He can get from sideline to sideline fairly quickly," Winfield said. "Great ball skills. He's a former corner, so he has great man-to-man skills. I'm sure we'll throw in a few packages where we'll bring him down in the box, cover a few tight ends, and just make a lot of plays for us this year."

The addition of Allen, the NFL's sack leader last season, next to defensive tackles Kevin Williams and Pat Williams is expected to give the Vikings one of the best defensive lines in the league. That should help the secondary.

"Anybody that can get to the quarterback definitely makes my job a lot easier," said Winfield, who was sidelined six games last season because of injuries.

He underwent pectoral surgery this offseason. He said he's fine now, though he's working to regain his strength. He expects he will have no problems when training camp opens next month.

The team's offseason moves have him excited once again. Winfield's outlook is much different from last summer.

"Just looking at our team overall, we have a great team," he said. "I really don't see any weaknesses. We're just ready to play some ball. We're hungry. Everyone has one goal, and that's to win a Super Bowl."