The Viking Age
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Rick Spielman of the Vikings ranked as third best NFL general manager

By Adam Carlson

EDEN PRAIRIE, MN - SEPTEMBER 17: General Manager Rick Spielman of the Minnesota Vikings arrives at a press conference on September 17, 2014 at Winter Park in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The Vikings addressed their decision to put Adrian Peterson on the commissioner's exempt list until Peterson's child-abuse case has been resolved. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
EDEN PRAIRIE, MN - SEPTEMBER 17: General Manager Rick Spielman of the Minnesota Vikings arrives at a press conference on September 17, 2014 at Winter Park in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The Vikings addressed their decision to put Adrian Peterson on the commissioner's exempt list until Peterson's child-abuse case has been resolved. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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Building a competitive NFL franchise can be a real challenge, but Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman is among the league’s elite GMs.

Assembling talent is essential when putting together an NFL franchise. Teams like the Minnesota Vikings must get the best players they can from the draft and free agency in hopes of getting a potential Super Bowl squad together.

This all lands on the team’s front office, where the general manager and staff of scouts and personnel research every player to ensure they are a good fit for their team both on and off the field.

Leading the way in this regard is general manager Rick Spielman, who was promoted from the ‘triangle of authority’ including Brad Childress and Zygi Wilf and gained the authority to make coaching changes in 2014.

He used that authority to hire defensive guru Mike Zimmer and brought in talented players in the draft like Kyle Rudolph, Anthony Barr, Xavier Rhodes, Stefon Diggs, and many, many others while adding huge free agents like Linval Joseph, Kirk Cousins, and Sheldon Richardson.

Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings /

Minnesota Vikings

Recently, Vinnie Iyer of The Sporting News released an article titled Ranking all 32 NFL general managers for 2018 where Rick Spielman moved up 11 spots from the previous year to land at the number three slot.

Here is the reasoning Iyer gave for Spielman moving up so much entering the 2018 NFL season:

"“Spielman delivered with two big fish in 2018, landing both Cousins and Richardson in free agency. The GM keeps giving Mike Zimmer the kinds of players the coach wants for his deep attack defense, and the team slowly has converted the offense from run-heavy with Adrian Peterson to a more balanced and explosive attack. Thanks to Spielman, the Vikings are not going anywhere as a contender.”"

His reasoning doesn’t even include signing former Bears leading receiver Kendall Wright, getting long-term deals for key defensive players, and selecting a talented draft class which included one of the most explosive defensive backs available, Mike Hughes.

Only two general managers are ahead of Spielman on the list, and it’s no surprise to see Howie Roseman of the Philadelphia Eagles and Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots in the first and second spots since they represented their conference in Super Bowl LII.

Next: 15 best Vikings first round picks of all time

Thanks to Rick Spielman, the Minnesota Vikings are ready to compete for many years thanks to the great talent assembled and tough decisions made that led the franchise to the Conference Championship Game last season.

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