Countdown to Spielman being fired

Not every quality pick/free agent has to be one of the 22 starters on O or D. Nwangwu is a great example of a draft pick that serves a key ST role but was left to languish on the bench by a stubborn old man. I don't have an issue with his not being heavily involved on offense, but there was no excuse for his not being the number 1 KO return man from week 1. You cannot tell me the scheme is difficult to pick up, or significantly different than it was in college.

Your argument seems to boil down to this:


1.  Spielman assessed that the 2020 team's chances of competing were irreparably hurt by two things: disproportionate talent loss due to injury, which was false; and excessive roster turnover, which he was responsible for.

2.  Spielman's conclusion led to his incorrectly believing that Zimmer & his staff weren't primarily responsible for the failed 2020 season and were therefore the right choice to lead the team in 2021, resulting in a failed 2021 season as well.

3.  Having made decisions that cost the organization the chance to compete in 2020 & 2021, Spielman is the right person to choose a new head coach who will lead the team until at least roughly 2030, provided he's able to maintain a win pct in the high .500's and manage one win in the divisional round.


And speaking of vacuums, that's the only place where the retention of Spielman appears to make sense.  No other NFL franchise is currently employing a chief executive with a tenure anywhere near Spielman's and no Super Bowl appearance to show for it.

To your points 1 & 2, it wasn't that turnover was excessive, it's that they had no chance to integrate anything.  Spielman's 2020 offseason plan would have been built before the end of the 2019 league year.  They made player free agent signings and draft plans before the idea of a pandemic shutdown ever even occurred.  In that situation you could say: "Sure, we have 2 new CBs, but they'll have OATs and pre-season games to work themselves into the defense."  That plan made sense because the team had an elite defensive line to pressure the QB to make the new CB's job's easier and a savvy veteran LB corps to keep their job's simple.

Then no Pierce, no Hunter - there goes the 2 best pieces on that DL to keep the CBs free.  And that steady LB presence in Barr (gone), Wilson did what he could but was clearly a backup.  Kendricks missing the last 6 games didn't help either.  Suddenly they were relying on rookies who where suppose to be the benefactors of a strong team around them to play like seasoned vets.  

The offense started slow the first several games but was generally much better the last 10, that would also suggest that it was the lack of offseason preparation.

To your point 3, yes, I would be very happy with Spielman picking the next head coach.

All of which tells us the issue is not so much Rick as the owners who keep Rick around regardless of results.  The root of it is Wilf's belief in "continuity" (for lack of a better term).   He wants to model the franchise after others which don't have a lot of change in the executive office or coaching seat.   Initially that was stated to be the Giants but when the Giants started to suck, the continuity in the organization basically went out the window as they changed coaches and front office people. They only had 5 g.m.'s in a 70 year span prior to Gettleman but he is looking like he will be fired after just 4 years, and Joe Judge might be out after this year, meaning they would be looking for their 5th coach in 6 years.   

So at some point did Wilf realize he was wrong?  Did he wake up and say 'my belief that if I just hang on to Rick (and by extension, Mike) for years and years then we will magically win a Super Bowl is just wrong!' ?  No, he did not.  Instead he switched p.r. tactics and announced the model was now the Steelers.  I don't know what brand of baloney he'll slice for us if Pittsburgh takes a downturn.   

The problem is that it is not the "continuity" that breeds the success; that is putting the cart in front of the horse.   Continuity is a byproduct of making successful hires that bring actual success, something Wilf has pretty much not done at any level of the organization, though I'm guessing he believes Rick and Mike are somehow successes.  I guess on a modest scale like say, making the playoffs every 2-3 years, staying at or above .500 most of the time, and not causing the fans to stop buying tickets, they are a success.   

A lot of truth in this if you try to put biases aside. That’s the overall issue with this regime. It has and will continually be mediocre. One year might go to nfc championship and then a whole bunch of year either just sneak into playoffs and lose right way or not make it at all. That’s what this team under this regime is and will always be. We have many years now that show that. If the owner’s and fan base is content with that than by all means keep running the same show. But the thing is there are a lot of Vikings fans who dream of Vikings winning a sb one day. That wont happen under this regime. So I guess the question is what the goal is. I know a couple Vikings fans I’ve argued with in my personal life who just want us to contend for a playoff spot every year and think that someway somehow if we can sneak in to the playoffs every year one day we will luck out and go all the way. I explained to the luck is such a small part of winning a sb. It’s about how the team is created, the system, the coaches and how bought in the players are. The way this regime is ran it’s doomed to fail to win a sb every season no matter how many times we make the playoffs.

Rick Spielman as a GM has a fundamental job to get these 3 aspects of the team Super Bowl worthy

1. QB
2. Offensive line
3. Head coach

He has been here for nearly 20 years and it is arguable that we have never had a 3/3 team since we've never won a Super Bowl or been in it. Other aspects of football are very important too and it is possible to get to the super bowl as a 2/3 team, but I feel its really unlikely. As a 1/3 or 0/3 team its essentially impossible. Its very difficult to even make the playoffs as a 1/3 or 0/3 team and even if the team does, it usually just means its going to be lunchmeat for a 2/3 or 3/3 team as a Wild Card or low-seeded team. That explains the chronic failure to make the playoffs and succeed in them, as we have only won 3 playoff games with Spielman around.

Right now the Vikings are at best 1/3 and in my opinion 0/3. Zimmer has lost his touch and is very likely to be fired on Black Monday. Kirk Cousins being Super Bowl worthy and worth his contract has been debated to death for 5 years. I'm now in the "no" camp. The offensive line is another merry go round, musical chairs, duck duck goose soup sandwich Slick Rick Disasterpiece. The guard is the tackle and the tackle is the guard and the guy who normally plays on the left is playing on the right and we're sticking it out with a draft bust and we have possible quality contributors and superior replacements (cough cough, Davis, Cole, cough cough) riding the pine. It feels like he thinks offensive linemen are largely unimportant fungible goods like 55 gallon drums of crude oil who don't really need to do anything but go out there and be fat.

The organization itself has also confessed to depth issues. Whose problem might that predominantly be, hmm?

3 playoff wins with him around in nearly 20 years and we're now very likely to be 1-3 in making the playoffs in the last 4 seasons, even with expanded playoffs.

He should never have been extended but in my opinion he buttered the Wilfs' biscuits and put himself and his family in friendly positions with the Wilfs to land an undeserved nepotism extension. Nepotism and the Wilf-owned Vikings, the devil you say! He should be canned with Zimmer on Black Monday if we miss the playoffs.

That is true... Both statements can be true You should read the words that I actually write... One says over his tenure, One talks about current role players. You see if you read the words that I write you'll understand how the English language actually works and then can interpret what I'm saying...

It's a fairly simple concept but I guess it's not for everyone...