Getty Images

It may be too early to term this a desperate call, but the Vikings did reach out to a retired guy after finding out guard Nick Easton would likely miss the entire season because of a neck problem.

At least this one is unlikely to end in profanity and deleted tweets.

According to Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Vikings called about retired guard Joe Berger to see if he was interested in returning, but Berger said he intended to stay retired.

Berger played 13 seasons in the league, the last seven with the Vikings. He was the kind of versatile interior blocker teams love to keep around, which explains why they were quick to check in.

Berger announced in March he was finished with football, and said recently he was at peace with the decision to walk away.

The Vikings will doubtless continue to shake the tree looking for depth, as they didn’t spend all that money on Kirk Cousins to leave him vulnerable. That does not mean they’re going to call Richie Incognito back, after he said the Vikings were interested (which they didn’t seem to be), and called coach Mike Zimmer a liar on Twitter.