5 best decisions ever made by Vikings GM Rick Spielman
By Dustin Baker
What are the best decisions ever made by the Minnesota Vikings general manager?
Rick Spielman has been a part of the Minnesota Vikings for nearly 15 years. He started as the Vikings vice president of player personnel in 2006 and he was officially promoted to be the team’s general manager in 2012. For the purposes of this commentary, his decisions have been evaluated on a post-2012 basis.
Since 2012, the Vikings have been the ninth-best team in the NFL with a win-loss record of 72-54-2 (.570). Notably, this is better than a number of Minnesota’s NFC foes including the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, and Atlanta Falcons among others. In Spielman’s eight-year tenure, the Vikings have visited the playoffs four times.
He’s also been a magician in accumulating draft capital from a volume perspective. Minnesota has drafted 93 players–in the last eight drafts. This averages to a total of nearly 12 players per draft. There are only seven rounds in a draft, so do the math.
Like many general managers, Spielman has made errors. For instance, he probably spent too much in the acquisition of quarterback Sam Bradford as the Vikings sent a first-round pick to the Eagles in 2016 for an oft-hobbled signal-caller.
Overall, Spielman has made sound decisions, so let’s go over the five best.