with adrian peterson, chester taylor and their tight end that nobody talks about. so i don't sense a lot of stress because brett favre is not here. i really don't. >> this is a team, as you mentioned, they accomplished post-season last season without brett favre. they should certainly be able to do it, especially now that they've added some nice athletic talent in percy harvin. let's switch a little bit, leaving minnesota. let's talk a little bit about the news with eli manning getting that big contract extension today, agreeing to it with the giants. 97.5 million. what does that mean for eli and the giants? >> well, listen, he had a year left on his original contract. you know, once he won that super bowl, he secured his spot with the giants. with one year left on his contract, his agent went to work. they've been working on this contract for a while. they came up with a good number. obviously he's going to get paid a lot of money. his brother peyton is getting paid a lot of money.

i can safely report that the bank of manning is accepting no federal bailout money. that's for sure. listen, eli is a guy that along with that other class, ben roethlisberger, he's won a super bowl. now we wait the see what happens with philip rivers, also from that class, because rivers was waiting to see what manning would get with the contract. the one thing that manning and roethlisberger have that rivers doesn't is a super bowl ring. >> that is something he will definitely be battling for. mort, what's the best story rather so far as you've traveled through camp? >> well, i tell you, what it's interesting. today was first playoff team we visited. we visited four teams, the cowboys, the saints, the rams and the packers. and what i saw in all four of those camps was an intensity and level of physicality in practice that you thought was no longer existent in the n.f.l. then you come to the vikings, and you know what, they just practice fast, but they weren't tackling

people to the ground. i think the teams that didn't make the playoffs are practicing much more physical than the teams that did make the playoffs, not say the vikings are taking it easy, but that's really what jumped out is just the physicality of training camp that i've seen so far. >> it's that edge that they want. they want to get in. they missed out on the season before. they take it out early in camp. see how it all works out for everybody. where you headed next, mort? where will we find you tomorrow? >> we're headed... we're on the n.f.c. north tour. vikings yesterday, packers today and the chicago bears tomorrow. three-team race among those three teams. they know it, too. >> and there you also see mort's camping trip and where he's headed over next five days. chris mortensen, espn nfl senior analyst, thank you so much, sir. >> no problem. >> coming up, phil mickelson shares his feelings on the eve of his return to competitive golf. plus what the rest of the season may hold in store for lefty. that's next.

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what caused the brewers' star to bubble over last night? we'll revisit the scene at dodger stadium. big green for the leader of big blue. the new deal that has eli making more than even his big brother peyton.