A few days before traveling to Indianapolis for the NFL scouting combine and two weeks out from the start of free agency, Rick Spielman walked into his sit-down with local beat reporters with an offseason plan.
It was printed in a single-digit font size on white, legal-size card stock with grades for every Vikings player, alongside their ranking of NFL draft prospects and lists of free agents and potential salary cap casualties from other teams. Spielman, wisely, kept that piece of paper at a distance.
“If you can read the names, I’ll back up,” he joked Thursday morning.