Rick Spielman left a massive mess for the Vikings in 2022
By Luke Parrish
What other mistakes did Rick Spielman make?
Now, getting back to Kirk Cousins, the Vikings are left in a weird spot heading into the start of the new league year. Kirk Cousins is under contract for one more season at an insanely high cap hit because Spielman kicked the can down the road until it was no longer his problem to deal with.
Without a deal in place, Cousins holds some power as far as his future, and this draft class is not viewed as good enough to warrant selecting a quarterback in the first round when the roster has as many holes as it does.
Kirk has been good in Minnesota, so this was not the biggest mistake in the world, but it does leave a bit of a problem for the new regime. Can they correct past wrongs and find an answer at quarterback whether it be Kirk Cousins or someone else?
Minnesota has no depth on defense because by going after the big-ticket signings, the Vikings lacked the ability to secure rotational pieces to fill out the roster. There are no cornerbacks on the roster, the offense still has questions along the offensive line, and the linebackers have nothing beyond Eric Kendricks to be excited about.
As it stands, the Vikings are not in a position to be competitive in 2022, but the money on the roster would imply otherwise. They simply do not have the depth that is necessary to make a deep run next season unless Kwesi can create a miracle with the mess left behind by Spielman.
Spielman also spent draft picks on players with clear character or injury concerns and those backfired on the roster down the line. Mike Hughes and Jeff Gladney both had very obvious red flags when they entered the NFL Draft and the Vikings took chances on both.
Two former first-round cornerbacks are no longer on the roster and the Vikings received basically nothing for them. Garrett Bradbury has not lived up to expectations as a first-round center. Spielman had a lot of poor first-round draft picks, and the Vikings would love to have those back, but then again, every team misses draft picks from time to time.
Rick Spielman had a good run with the Vikings, but the end of it was a disaster, both in the present and for the future. Minnesota has some work to do in order to fix some of the problems that Spielman left behind.