MINNEAPOLIS -- On Saturday morning, Minnesota Vikings officials will meet Michael Johnson for breakfast at a Minneapolis hotel and make one final overture to the free-agent defensive end about reuniting with his old coach, Mike Zimmer. And, short of a contract agreement, Johnson will fly to Cincinnati, where he will tour familiar sites and weigh whether it'd be best to continue his NFL career where it started.

The problem likely before the 28-year-old defensive end is at once fortune-kissed and agonizing. He'll likely get (or have) to choose between spending the rest of his prime with the coach who molded him into an effective NFL player, or the teammates who lined up next to him for a combined 93 regular-season and postseason games. The Vikings and Bengals play the same scheme; Johnson might not have his old right end spot in Minnesota, but he knows he fits well in both defenses. All that's left to do is pick between them.

The sense I get is it would be surprising to see Johnson sign a contract before leaving Minnesota. He still has strong attachments in Cincinnati, and it seems likely he'll at least hear what the Bengals have to say before making up his mind. But the Vikings have plenty to offer, and they worked to sell Johnson on all of it on Friday: They took him to their new stadium preview center, and showed him the ascending structure on the east end of downtown Minneapolis. They pitched him on the young talent on their defense -- Harrison Smith, Everson Griffen, Xavier Rhodes, Sharrif Floyd, Linval Joseph and Anthony Barr -- and the rising star they believe they have at quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater. And at the center of it all was Zimmer, a man who worked closely with Johnson in Cincinnati and tried convincing him to come to Minnesota before he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year.

Johnson has some strong attachments in Cincinnati, too, and he'll likely need to consider all of it before telling either his old coach or his former teammates no. Both Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman sounded confident tones at Manny's Steakhouse, where the Vikings took Johnson and his agent, John Thornton, out to dinner. But the Bengals will have a strong pitch to make, too: a familiar community, a comfortable fit and a team that's been to the playoffs in five of the last six years. If Johnson picks Zimmer and the Vikings over the Bengals, he'd add another solid piece to a defense that made significant strides in 2014. Before that, though, he'll have to make what sometimes can be the toughest decision: a choice between two great options.