Vikings' draft strategy means more big contracts will follow Harrison Smith

MINNEAPOLIS -- For all intents and purposes, the Minnesota Vikings' move back into the first round of the 2012 draft to select Harrison Smith functioned as the grand opening event for the team's new way of doing business. The Smith pick marked the first of three times in the 2012 through 2014 drafts where the Vikings traded back into the first round to add an extra piece to their foundation at a price they could afford. \\

Adding those players in the first round, not the second, gave them another year of financial leverage (more on that in a minute). And the moves, in the first years of Rick Spielman's time in full control of the team's football operation, signaled a bold course from the new…