Vikings Fire General Manager Rick Spielman, Who Had Been With Team Since 2006

Not only is Mike Zimmer out as head coach, but Spielman is gone too after 16 years.

The Vikings have fired general manager Rick Spielman, per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. On the same morning they fired head coach Mike Zimmer, Spielman is out as well.

Minnesota's ownership group, led by Mark and Zygi Wilf, didn't go with one move or the other. They completely ripped off the bandaid of an entire era by firing both Zimmer and Spielman.

While Zimmer had been the team's head coach since 2014, Spielman had been around even longer. He arrived in Minnesota in 2006 and spent six seasons as the team's vice president of player personnel. From 2006 to 2011, Spielman made decisions along with Rob Brzezinski and whoever the head coach was at the time — first Brad Childress, then Leslie Frazier.

In 2012, Spielman was promoted to general manager and given the final word on all personnel decisions. He lasted ten seasons in that role.

Spielman made two huge decisions as Vikings GM, both of which may have contributed to today's news. He helped hire Zimmer in 2014, and then signed Kirk Cousins to the first fully-guaranteed contract in NFL history in 2018. The arrival of Cousins — who was subsequently extended in 2020 — began a four-year run of utter mediocrity that wound up getting both Zimmer and Spielman fired.

Other mistakes made by Spielman included trades where he overreacted to injuries within the Vikings' roster. Whether it was trading a fourth-round pick for Chris Herndon this season, trading for Yannick Ngakoue only to trade him away for less shortly after in 2020, or the Kaare Vedvik situation in 2019, it was something that happened far too often.

Spielman was seen as a master of the NFL draft, and it's true that he both gained value with his strategy of regularly trading back and made some fantastic picks during his time as GM. Justin Jefferson, Brian O'Neill, Dalvin Cook, Eric Kendricks, Danielle Hunter, Stefon Diggs, and Harrison Smith were all drafted by Spielman. But he missed on too many first-round picks in recent years: Jeff Gladney, Garrett Bradbury, Mike Hughes, Laquon Treadwell.

The Vikings will presumably begin a search for their next GM first, as that person will want influence in the head coach search.

It's a new day in Minnesota.

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