The Ongoing Process of Minimizing the Rick Spielman Era

Last offseason, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell were fairly bold in their handling of the final draft class of the Rick Spielman era.

The 2021 draft haul brought 11 new players to Minnesota, Christian Darrisaw foremost among them. Unfortunately, only 4 made it past the roster cuts to make it onto the 53-man roster for 2022. Anyone who was still uncertain about the transition to the new leadership group got a rude awakening: the team was heading in a new direction, so players brought in by the previous crew weren’t going to receive the same loyalty.

A Vikings executive from 2006-2021, Spielman has been hugely influential on the Vikings. His influence, though, will dwindle the more time…