The Baltimore Ravens Wednesday signed long-time Minnesota Viking center Matt Birk to a three-year deal reportedly worth $12 million.

The signing fills a hole opened for Baltimore when Jason Brown signed with the St. Louis Rams. It also creates a chasm in the middle of a Vikings’ offensive line that, outside of left guard Steve Hutchinson, was overrated to begin with.

Ponder this. Former top pick and current left tackle Bryant McKinnie is maddeningly inconsistent. He was solid in 2008 but he has been in more jails than Pro Bowls and he’s struggled to live up to the hype that came with him from the University of Miami.

Anthony Herrera is a hard-working right guard. He’s fine as the fifth-best starter on your line, but on this team, he’s not. Vikings officials have talked openly about seeking better play from the right tackle position, manned last season by Ryan Cook. They’ve failed to land anyone thus far to challenge for Cook’s position.

Now, with Birk gone, the team faces the prospect of drafting a center far early than most “experts” think is wise or starting either second-year guy John Sullivan or Cook, who was originally drafted as a center.

The team reportedly had hoped to sign Jason Brown. But he signed before checking out Minnesota. Other free agent centers, such as Jeff Saturday of Indianapolis (re-signed) and Jake Grove of Oakland (signed with Miami), have already signed as well.

It’s a continuation of a confusing offseason for a team that, on paper, appeared poised to make a deep playoff run, despite a couple of holes on the offensive line and major uncertainty at the quarterback position.

The Vikings’ brass put the full-court press on T.J. Houshmandzadeh, attempting to sign him to complement last year’s free agent burner, Bernard Berrian.

Yet, while chasing top talent at the receiver position, the team has so far declined to go hard after more proven quarterbacks like free agent Jeff Garcia or Donovan McNabb, who had at least been rumored to be available before taking the Eagles to the NFC Championship game, opting instead for career backup Sage Rosenfels.

In fairness, the Vikings are rumored to be interested in Jay Cutler but Denver has indicated he’s not going to be traded.

So, now, along with uncertainty at right tackle and quarterback, the team must fill a hole at center. For a team whose expectations are a deep playoff run, it’s confusing why they’d be willing to go into the season with either a high draft choice, a failed right tackle or a second-year guy who has never started a game at center.

Birk is aging and no doubt injuries have robbed him of some of the skills he had earlier in his career. But his value as a leader is unquestioned. And if I were running a team would I want to go into 2009 with him or John Sullivan? Birk or Ryan Cook? Birk or Alex Mack, a highly-touted draft prospect?

If this team is truly in the hunt for a Super Bowl run this season that question shouldn’t be a hard one to answer.