Rick Spielman reveals a huge regret he had as the Vikings GM

Former Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman recently revealed the player that he most regrets cutting during his tenure with the team.

Following a Week 2 game against the Green Bay Packers in which he missed three field-goal attempts, the Minnesota Vikings felt it was best to move on from kicker Daniel Carlson early in the 2018 season. Looking back on it, former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman wishes that cutting Carlson was a choice that he didn’t make.

On Tuesday, Spielman posted a short video on his Twitter account where he discussed the difficulties of cutting veteran players, and he also revealed that Carlson is the player that he regrets cutting the most during his career (Carlson part starts at the 0:55 mark).

Former Minnesota Vikings GM Rick Spielman believes Las Vegas Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson is the one that got away

After Spielman and the Vikings pushed him out the door, Carlson wound up with the Las Vegas Raiders, and he’s developed into one of the best kickers in the entire NFL.

For his performance, the Raiders even rewarded the former Minnesota kicker with a lucrative four-year contract extension last season.

With Spielman picking this decision as one of the biggest regrets of his career, it makes one wonder if it was entirely his choice.

Anyone who has followed the Vikings during the last eight years knows the lack of patience that former head coach Mike Zimmer had for kickers, or really any specialist for that matter. It wouldn’t be shocking to find out that Minnesota cutting Carlson after just two games in 2018 was something that Zimmer wanted to happen more than Spielman.

That’s probably something we’ll never actually find out, but it’s definitely a possibility that can’t be ruled out.

Would Zimmer and Spielman still be with the Vikings if they hadn’t cut Carlson in 2018? Probably not, but Minnesota’s chances in all of their close games last season likely would’ve been higher with him as their kicker instead of Greg Joseph.