Few definitive answers in Percy Harvin saga

The Percy Harvin saga continues with few answers on whether he will be back with the Vikings next season. (US Presswire)

At the midseason point of the 2012 season, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin emerged as one of the most versatile wideouts in the NFL and a veritable contender for league MVP.

In a Week 5 win over the Titans, Harvin made three defenders miss on a jaw-dropping 10-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Pro Football Focus described Harvin's juke that helped him elude Titans safety Jordan Babineaux as a move straight out of Madden NFL 12. Harvin followed up the two-touchdown afternoon with a 14-catch, 133 yard performance a week later against the Redskins.

Harvin, though, did not return to the lineup after suffering an ankle injury against the Seahawks on Nov. 4 and was placed on IR in early December.

Now, Harvin's status in Minnesota remains in question after ambiguous comments from Vikings general manager Rick Spielman last week. The fourth-year receiver from the University of Florida will become a free agent when his five-year, $12.05 million contract expires after the 2013 season. Harvin's cap hit nearly doubles from $2.044 million in 2012 to $4.029 million in 2013.

“I'm not going to say what's going to happen this offseason, because he is going in to the last year of his contract,” Spielman told KFAN-100.3 in Minneapolis. “Right now, where we're at, Percy is a member of this football team and he is a very good football player. We don't like to get rid of good football players."

There has been uncertainty surrounding Harvin's return to the Vikings since a report from ESPN 1500 Twin Cities' Tom Pelissero surfaced in late December. Citing four league sources, Pelissero reported that Harvin and Vikings coach Leslie Frazier engaged in a heated exchange before the receiver was placed on IR. It is unclear if the injury or the altercation had a bigger factor in the Vikings' decision to shut down Harvin for the season.

As rumors involving Harvin continue to swirl, it's important to note that not a single Vikings' beat writer has substantiated a report involving a potential Harvin trade since the incident. Harvin requested to be traded last summer several weeks before training camp.

Frazier and Harvin spoke briefly during the Vikings' exit physicals at season's end.

“We talked, and it was a good conversation,” Frazier told 1500 ESPN last week. “Hopefully, everything will work out."

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