MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Vikings have released 16-year veteran kicker Ryan Longwell, the latest and perhaps most dangerous turnover to date in their rebuilding project. Wholesale Iphone Case . The surprising move was made Monday, a little more than a week after the team drafted Georgia kicker Blair Walsh in the sixth round. Shortly after Longwell said goodbye to Vikings fans on Twitter -- he thanked them for their cheers and said theyve "been awesome" to him and his family -- the team announced the decision in a brief news release. "Ryan did a good job for us," coach Leslie Frazier said. "He is a great person and has been an outstanding player in our league for a long time. I wish him nothing but the best. He has been great for our organization." Longwell had three seasons and $7 million left on a four-year contract he signed last summer that included a $3.5 million signing bonus. He was due to make $1.75 million salary this season, putting him in jeopardy to join left guard Steve Hutchinson, cornerback Cedric Griffin and right guard Anthony Herrera on the list of expensive veterans let go this year. But few players can impact the outcome of a game like the kicker, and despite a down 2011 season during which he made 22 of 28 field-goal attempts Longwell was still one of the best in the game at age 37. Over just six years with the Vikings, Longwell recorded 633 points, third in franchise history behind kicker Fred Cox and wide receiver Cris Carter. His 94.4 field-goal percentage over the 2009 and 2010 seasons -- 43 of 46 -- was the best in the NFL. Including nine years with the Green Bay Packers, Longwell is 13th in NFL history with 1,687 points and fourth on the active list. His career-long 55-yard field goal came on Oct. 14, 2007, to beat the Chicago Bears with no time left. With punter Chris Kluwe and long snapper Cullen Loeffler together with Longwell since he switched rival teams and first signed with Minnesota in 2006, the Vikings had the longest tenure of special-teams trios in the league. They were close friends, too. "Sad to see Ryan go, both as a teammate and as a friend," Kluwe said on Twitter. "Unfortunately, thats the business of the NFL; we all get replaced eventually." The Vikings have enjoyed a remarkable run of reliable kickers, with Longwell and Gary Anderson (1998-2002). Even short-term fill-ins like Paul Edinger (2005) and Morten Andersen (2004) fared well. The only real problem they had in recent history was in 2002, when Doug Brien struggled and was cut in favour of Anderson just three games into the season. Walsh left college as the all-time leading scorer in Southeastern Conference history, but he slumped his senior year and made only 21 of 35 field goals. "He was an outstanding kicker throughout his first three years at Georgia, and we want to see if we can get that form back. We feel like he can," Frazier said last weekend during the teams rookie minicamp. Wholesale Jerseys For Cheap . -- Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs will have surgery for a partially torn Achilles tendon, an injury he insists will not keep him sidelined for the entire 2012 season. Wholesale Jerseys Supply . -- Compare what was said Wednesday by Robert Griffin III and Mike Shanahan. http://herownblog.com/jerseys-... . He knew it was gone, and it wasnt just any homer for Headley, the switch-hitting slugger whos having a breakout season for the San Diego Padres. Headley hit a grand slam to extend his career-bests to 27 homers and an NL-high 102 RBIs, and Carlos Quentin followed with a homer for San Diegos first back-to-back shots this season as the Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-2 Sunday. [url=http://herownblog.com/jerseys-wholesale.html]Wholesale Jerseys . The 31-year-old left-hander has agreed to a one-year contract, the person said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been announced. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping . -- Canadian Steve Nash knew the scene was more than a bit surreal when he stood in the Los Angeles Lakers training complex, grinning and holding up a gold No.NEW YORK -- Milos Raonics best just wasnt good enough against Olympic champion Andy Murray. The native of Thornhill, Ont., lost to Murray 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 on Monday in the fourth round of the U.S. Open. "It was a tough match, he was just too good," said Raonic. "I was never comfortable and he played extremely well. This was a big loss, I really gave everything out there and Ive never felt such a defeat." Murray, still seeking his first Grand Slam title, reached the quarter-finals at an eighth consecutive major tournament by beating the 15th-seeded Raonic. Raonic was trying to become the first Canadian man in a Grand Slam quarter-final in the Open era, which began in 1968. Canadian women remain the only players to have gone to the last eight in a Grand Slam, most recently through Patricia Hy-Boulais at the 1992 U.S. Open. Raonic reached this stage at a major for the second time after getting to the last 16 from a qualifying start at the Australian Open last year. "This was my eighth Grand Slam and Im pretty new to this," said Raonic. "Ive only played here twice. Sometimes I get frustrated with myself." Raonic is the third Canadian to reach the round of 16 at a Grand Slam in the Open era, after Montreals Martin Laurendeau at the 1988 US Open and Torontos Daniel Nestor at Wimbledon in 1999. He stands 1-7 against top five opponents, with his only win coming against Murray on clay in Barcelona last spring. "I need to improve a lot of things in my game if Im going to compete with guys at the top level," said Raonic. "But I also want to learn as much as I can. Every experience at this level is a new one. I have to deal with them the best I can." Despite his disappointment, Raonic will rise to an ATP ranking of around 14th next Monday. Raonic never got a break point on the Murray serve and managed only 14 aces -- about half his average at the event in the first three roundds. Wholesale NFL T-Shirts. He converted on three of 11 break points and lost his own serve four times in a disappointing evening. "I felt like I was doing it well most of the time, except maybe a few shots I didnt go for as much in the beginning just because I didnt know how to really read it," said Raonic. The match was moved to an earlier start because of rain clouds moving into the area, but the contest concluded without interruption. "Its tough in there (Arthur Ashe Stadium), its something I havent really experienced," said Raonic. "Its windy constantly and coming from all different directions. So it was hard to really just step in on the ball." Murray played smart tennis to nullify Raonics huge serve, using his returning skills to dominate. The third-seeded Murray created his first chances in the eighth game of the opening set, forcing Raonic to save two break points before finally dropping serve for 3-5. A game later, Murray secured the set on his second opportunity from a Raonic return wide. The balance of power stayed the same in the second set. Raonic lost serve for 2-3 after again saving two break points but failing on a third. Raonic managed to save a pair of set points, holding serve for 4-5 before Murray took a two-sets-to-love lead as he fired an ace on the first of three more match points, a shot which Raonic unsuccessfully challenged with the electronic linecalling system. The third set was all Murray, with Raonic struggling to no avail as the Scot closed out the win thanks to breaks in the third and seventh games, sealing it on his first match point from Raonics return long. Murray, the 2008 U.S. Open runner-up, and his coach, Ivan Lendl, are the only men to lose their first four major finals. Next for Murray is a match against No. 12 Marin Cilic. Murray leads their head-to-head series 6-1, but his only loss to Cilic came at Flushing Meadows in the fourth round in 2009. ' ' '