"Vikings coach Leslie Frazier made it clear at the NFL owners meetings in late March that his intention was for Bernard Berrian to play a big role in 2011 and that the team had no intention of cutting the wide receiver.

But that was before it was reported the Vikings would be $5.1 million over the $120.4 million salary cap that will be part of the NFL's soon-to-be-approved (we think) Collective Bargaining Agreement. Berrian, coming off a season in which he caught only 28 passes and had no touchdowns, has a cap hit of $6.258 million for this season.

Berrian, who attended the annual Starkey Hearing Foundation gala Sunday night in St. Paul, was fatalistic when asked about his confidence level in remaining with the Vikings. "Until I hear otherwise, I'm just really ready to get back to work," he said. "If we have to cut ties, then we have to cut ties."

Berrian did leave the door open for being willing to restructure his contract, which has two seasons left on it after this year. "I'd have to go back and talk to my agent [Drew Rosenhaus] and have all the talks and discussions that we need to go through for that," Berrian said. "But whatever happens, it's going to happen. One way or the other."

Berrian described his offseason as having "been great," and said he took advantage of the lockout to get more rest than usual after returning home to California. In fact, he took off the first three months of the offseason. All indications are the lockout will end this week, perhaps as early as Monday, and Berrian said he will come to training camp with fresh legs."