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At scouting combine, Vikings lay groundwork for free agency, NFL draft

This week a table at Elmo's Steak House or a Marriott lobby barstool in downtown Indianapolis will help grease the skids of the impending NFL news avalanche coming next month.

That's when free-agency decisions, led this year by the sweepstakes for Kirk Cousins and possibly Case Keenum, will be finalized. Before the opening bell on March 14 is this week's annual scouting combine at Lucas Oil Stadium, a six-day affair where more than 300 draft prospects are medically, physically and psychologically tested. The combine essentially acts as the league's premier offseason convention for all things NFL.

"You'll see everyone in the NFL within a four-block radius," said Blake Baratz, a Minneapolis-based player agent at The Institute for Athletes.