The Minnesota Vikings seem to be fully over the Rick Spielman era after moving forward with Kwesi Adofo-Mensah regime, but other teams in the NFL seem to be interested in giving him one more shot in a very important front office role.
Spielman's biggest task this offseason was helping the New York Jets try to turn things around as a consultant with The 33rd Team. The Spielman-led search party ultimately helped the Jets land on former player and Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn as head coach and ex-Broncos assistant GM Darren Mougey as general manager.
It seems like Woody Johnson was very impressed with Spielman's knowledge and acumen throughout the process, as he is bringing him to the Jets as a senior football advisor. Spielman himself said his main goal is to assist in rebuilding the back-end football operations side of things.
In an ironic twist, Spielman will also play a role in helping Mougey and the rest of the front office decide what the best course of action should be in terms of dealing with Aaron Rodgers. How ironic that Spielman can make his decision after spending good chunks of his professional career getting flattened by Rodgers in Green Bay,
Former Vikings GM Rick Spielman could decide fate of Aaron Rodgers with Jets
Spielman got his start with the Vikings as vice president of player personnel in 2006 before eventually earning the nominal promotion to general manager in 2012. Calling Spielman's tenure mixed may be the understatement of the century, especially at the end of his tenure.
Spielman oversaw nine .500 or better seasons in 16 seasons and made the playoffs six times, but his teams only won three playoff games. While he assembled teams that consistently made it to the postseason, he never was able to break through. Those recent failures have made it tough for the 62-year-old to land another front office job.
The Rodgers decision is a fascinating one. While keeping Rodgers will likely force a Jets team that won't compete for titles in 2025 to incur massive cap hits in 2026 and 2027, there may not be any better options on the market for a team that is trying to rid themselves of a losing culture so rotten they haven't made the playoffs in 14 years.
Jets fans should feel confident in the fact they have someone with nearly two decades of experience helping Mougey through what should be a very difficult process. At least he isn't running the entire show like he did in Minnesota.