Tag: Rick Spielman

Ex-NFL GM sees DeAndre Hopkins going to New England after recent moves

At the 11th hour, former NFL GM Rick Spielman sees DeAndre Hopkins signing with New England

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The New England Patriots have been rumored to be in the sweepstakes for wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins throughout the offseason.

Even though things are quiet now, former Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman sees the five-time All-Pro veteran eventually signing with the Patriots.

Hopkins visited both the Tennessee Titans and the Patriots at the beginning of the month. Now, he seems to be in no rush to make a decision. The 31-year-old caught 64 passes for 717 yards and three touchdowns last season.

New England also created a little extra salary cap space by restructuring the contracts of wide receiver Devante Parker and linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley over the course of this week.

Spielman believes New England has the edge in the Hopkins sweepstakes and said as much during his appearance on SirusXM NFL Radio on Thursday afternoon.

“By doing this, it created cap space to try and fit DeAndre Hopkins up in New England, which I think would be a huge need and a huge get for New England, especially with Mac Jones and giving him another offensive weapon,” said Spielman, when talking about the Patriots’ recent extensions. “And again, I don’t think the deal is going to get done until we get closer to training camp.

“They’ll haggle back and forth, but until you get to that 11th hour, when they’re getting ready to report to training camp, I think they’ll finalize the deal and DeAndre Hopkins will end up in New England, in my opinion.”

 

Hopkins would give New England a bona fide top wide receiver, as quarterback Mac Jones enters into a crucial third year. If nothing else, there seems to be a lot of smoke surrounding Hopkins joining the Patriots.

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Vikings owners send Rick Spielman new game balls

After losing all of his game balls in Hurricane Ian, Rick Spielman received new ones from Vikings owners Zygi and Mark Wilf.

The Minnesota Vikings finished first in the inaugural team report cards issued by the NFL Players Association and instances like this are a major reason why.

According to former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, owners Zygi and Mark Wilf sent him replacement game balls after he lost them all in Hurrican Ian.

Spielman mentions in the above clip that this (football) business is brutal and he’s right. Things can go south really quickly and the turnover in front offices happen quickly. What doesn’t get discussed enough is the kind gestures that ownership makes to their current and former employees.

This is a simple gesture from the Wilf’s to Spielman, but one that won’t go unnoticed across the league. The Vikings are one of the best franchises to work for and this is one of the many reasons why.

Zulgad: K.J. Osborn knows that in the NFL, “they’re always looking to replace you”

After having a breakout season in 2022, K.J. Osborn knows a lot is on the line in his contract year writes @jzulgad.

The Vikings’ addition of Jordan Addison with their first-round pick in last month’s draft has been celebrated as a move that won’t just give the team another quality receiver but also will create valuable room for superstar Justin Jefferson to operate. It’s what the Vikings hoped Adam Thielen would be able to do last season before injuries and the aging process took their toll on the one-time standout.

Combine the Jefferson and Addison pairing with a full season of tight end T.J. Hockenson and coach/play-caller Kevin O’Connell and quarterback Kirk Cousins are expecting the Vikings’ scoring offense to shoot from eighth into the top five in 2023.

One of the interesting things about Addison’s addition — O’Connell called him a Day 1 starter in a draft-night video posted by the Vikings — is what it will mean for K.J. Osborn?

The Vikings will talk about the competition for the No. 2 job at wide receiver, but it’s Addison’s to lose. This doesn’t mean Osborn won’t play.

Injuries are inevitable and O’Connell used three wide receiver sets on 74 percent of plays last season, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. That number will be interesting to track this year after the Vikings signed tight end Josh Oliver from Baltimore in free agency. Oliver is an outstanding blocker and the Vikings want to improve a run game that finished tied for 27th in the NFL last season with the Rams.

That means the Vikings will more often use two tight ends and a running back in certain formations to create confusion about their intentions and also provide more assistance to the running game.

The Vikings’ consistent use of 11 personnel in 2022 — one running back, one tight end and three wide receivers — was a big reason Osborn had career highs in targets (90) and receptions (60). He had 650 yards receiving and five touchdowns, trailing the 655 yards and seven TDs he had in 2021.

The one thing the Vikings know Osborn isn’t going to do is pout. He has too much to lose financially by taking it personally that his team didn’t think he could assume Thielen’s role. Plus, Osborn isn’t new to having to prove himself.

He was taken in the fifth round of the 2020 draft by former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman and plugged into the kick return role. He averaged 21.6 yards on 14 kick returns and 3.9 yards on seven punt returns as a rookie.

Osborn, who will turn 26 on June 10, wasn’t on the field for one offensive snap in nine games. That changed in 2021. Osborn did not return a kick and only four punts, but an impressive training camp earned him a role on 68 percent of the offensive snaps.

That figure increased to 75 percent last season as he played in all 17 games for the second year in a row. Osborn will be a free agent after this season and has plenty of motivation to prove he’s capable of taking on an expanded role. Whether that be in Minnesota, or elsewhere.

Asked if he had a chip on his shoulder, Osborn acknowledged, “huge, huge.”

“It’s not just the draft,” he said. “It’s the NFL. They’re always looking to replace you. To me, it’s about respect, man. I want to earn my respect. … I was a fifth-round pick. I was a two-star recruit. I came from the (Mid-American Conference). If they draft somebody, didn’t draft somebody, I’m trying to prove to myself. Not to everybody else. I want to prove myself right. I don’t care about any doubters, or haters. My standard is higher than any fan or any coach in this building, for myself.”

Osborn, who transferred to the University of Miami in 2019 after playing four seasons for the University of Buffalo in the MAC, has done an impressive job of proving himself and has become one of Cousins’ trusted targets.

He looks at this situation as just another chance for him to overcome the odds.

“That’s who I am, though, so adding a contract year, some big things going on around here, it’s even more exciting,” Osborn said. “That just fuels me that much more.”

Judd Zulgad is co-host of the Purple Daily Podcast and Mackey & Judd podcast at www.skornorth.com

Longtime NFL GM Rick Spielman has harsh words for critics of Detroit’s 2023 draft class

Longtime NFL GM Rick Spielman has harsh words for critics of Detroit’s 2023 draft class

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Most Detroit Lions fans generally think the team, and GM Brad Holmes, did a pretty good job adding helpful players in the 2023 NFL draft. A lot of national media pundits and draft analysts don’t see it that way, however.

Between the concepts of positional value and other players available for the slots, much criticism has been levied at Holmes and Detroit. So it’s refreshing when a national pundit — one who also happens to have been a long-time, successful NFL GM — heaps praise on the Lions and their draft.

Enter Rick Spielman. In his “With the First Pick” podcast for CBS Sports with Ryan Wilson, the former Vikings GM and brother of Lions senior exec Chris Spielman, rails against the negative noise directed at Detroit’s draft.

It’s very true with second-round pick, Iowa tight end Sam LaPorta. LaPorta was a surprise pick met with some consternation, but Spielman states LaPorta, the No. 34 overall pick, is a “potential offensive rookie of the year.”

Spielman notes,

“I think they have four starters in their first four picks. I think they drafted the future quarterback, once Goff is done, in Hendon Hooker. Then Brodric Martin is an underrated nose tackle.”

He continued on Martin and why it’s a good pick,

“They struggled some versus the run. I think as he grows and learns — he may not be ready Week 1 — but as he develops, I think he’s going to have an impact at the nose tackle position, especially in the run game.”

Wilson pushed back a little on Spielman’s lofty praise. After noting that the Lions finished 21st in his draft grades, to which Spielman offered an incredulous guffaw, Wilson efforts to justify his low grade by noting that first-round picks Jahmyr Gibbs and Jack Campbell “went much higher than everyone in the media thought.”

Spielman would have none of it. It’s a fun, slightly awkward moment when the former GM attacks the draft media, as represented here by Wilson, about how to judge and grade drafts.

Check out the full discourse via YouTube

Former NFL general manager predicts Saints will pick first-round DT

One former NFL general manager predicted the New Orleans Saints will pick first-round defensive tackle Bryan Bresee out of Clemson:

One former NFL general manager predicts the New Orleans Saints will pick a first-round defensive tackle in the 2023 draft. Longtime Minnesota Vikings GM Rick Spielman contributed to a mock draft with The 33rd Team with his peer Mike Tannenbaum, and he likes the Saints to add more depth to their roster at defensive tackle.

Despite having signed a couple of veterans, he sees more snaps to go around, and a rookie like Clemson prospect Bryan Bresee could be a good fit. Spielman wrote of the move:

The New Orleans Saints lost a couple of defensive linemen to free agency this offseason. On 2021 tape, Bresee plays like a top-10 pick. Last season he went through tragedy with his sister passing away and was also coming off an ACL injury. However, he’s athletic and can play multiple positions on the defensive interior.

The Saints did sign Khalen Saunders and Nathan Shepherd, but they’re both guys who will just help as Bresee comes along.

Defensive tackle is very much a position of need for the Saints. They couldn’t field a five-man rotation if they had to play a game today — Saunders and Shepherd are joined on the depth chart by backups Malcolm Roach and Prince Emili, neither of whom have extensive pro experience (Roach played a career-high 315 defensive snaps last season).

As far as that goes, Bresee doesn’t have a ton of reps behind him, either. He missed most of the 2021 season recovering from a torn ACL and was limited to just 330 snaps in Clemson’s rotation last year. It would be worthwhile to sign another veteran like Poona Ford or Matt Ioannidis after the draft to bolster the room even after adding Shepherd and Saunders. Like many other recent Saints draft picks along the defensive line, he has a lot of unrealized potential but a lengthy injury history, too.

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Zulgad: Vikings new brass was hired to find franchise QB, not stick with Kirk Cousins

The Vikings hired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell to find their franchise quarterback writes @jzulgad.

There are a multitude of reasons why Rick Spielman no longer sits in the general manager’s chair at TCO Performance Center. A primary one was his inability to solve the Vikings’ quarterback conundrum during his run as the man in charge.

Spielman was sharing power over personnel decisions with coach Leslie Frazier in 2011 when he made Christian Ponder the 12th-overall pick in the draft. Ponder spent four seasons in Minnesota and ranks among the Vikings’ biggest draft busts. Spielman’s next big swing came in 2014 when he selected Teddy Bridgewater with the 32nd pick in the opening round. The hope of Bridgewater turning into a franchise QB ended with a gruesome, non-contact leg injury just before the 2016 season.

That resulted in trading a first-round pick for Sam Bradford, whose career was derailed by injury in 2017; the decision to go with Case Keenum, a huge one-season success; and finally the signing of Kirk Cousins to a fully guaranteed free-agent contract in 2018. (There’s no reason to pile on by mentioning Josh Freeman’s disastrous one-game stint in 2013.)

When Spielman was shown the door, along with coach Mike Zimmer, after the 2021 season, the investment in Cousins had led to only one playoff appearance in four seasons and back-to-back losing years.

The amazing thing is that in Cousins’ five years with the Vikings, there’s a case to be made that he’s among the top five among quarterbacks in franchise history. Fran Tarkenton is atop that list and then the debate begins with names (in no particular order) such as Daunte Culpepper, Randall Cunningham, Brett Favre, Tommy Kramer, Warren Moon and Cousins.

That means a franchise that began play in 1961 has had one franchise quarterback and he retired 45 years ago. Not surprisingly, this has created nervousness among some about the decision of new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and coach Kevin O’Connell to begin exploring a future without Cousins.

If you haven’t been paying attention this offseason, the Vikings have done everything but write Cousins a Dear John letter to announce their intention of a breakup after the 2023 season. The latest indication of this came when the Star Tribune’s Andrew Krammer reported Cousins had asked for less than what the Giants gave Daniel Jones but that conversation went nowhere.

As much confidence as O’Connell showed in Cousins throughout last season, here’s the truth of the matter: Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell weren’t hired to stick with Cousins long term. He turns 35 in August and even with a recent contract restructure will count $28.5 million against the salary cap in 2023.

O’Connell, in particular, was hired to find Cousins’ replacement and solve this longtime issue at quarterback. O’Connell played the position at San Diego State and was drafted in the third round by the New England Patriots in 2008. While he only appeared in two career games and threw six passes, his work with quarterbacks as an assistant impressed the Vikings enough to put their trust in him. It’s clear O’Connell knows what he’s doing and what he wants.

He was able to lead the Vikings to a 13-win season in his first year as a coach and oversaw a Cousins-led offense that had an NFL-record tying eight four-quarter comebacks. What the Vikings would like to see is O’Connell build off that success with a young quarterback, preferably a first-round pick, who will spend his first five seasons in Minnesota playing on a rookie contract and be as successful, if not more so, than Cousins.

NFC North titles shouldn’t be the goal. Long playoff runs and Super Bowl appearance should.

There is a necessity on the financial side considering wide receiver Justin Jefferson figures to get a huge contract this offseason that will kick in in 2025. Left tackle Christian Darrisaw, a first-round pick the year after Jefferson, will be eligible for a big extension next offseason. The easiest way to retain key players, and build a competitive roster, starts with having a quarterback on a rookie contract.

When you are normally as competitive as the Vikings have been throughout their existence, being in a position to draft a top quarterback prospect isn’t easy. But that’s why Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell are reportedly kicking the tires on different options and why the name of Kentucky’s Will Levis has been tied to the Vikings more than once.

It’s in the Vikings best interest to do as much due diligence as possible when it comes to life without Cousins. Owners Zygi and Mark Wilf trust Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell to do what their predecessors couldn’t and finally deliver a long-term franchise QB.

The pressure to do so will be immense and likely determine how long both are in their current positions. There is plenty of risk, but the potential reward could finally land a Lombardi in the trophy case.

Judd Zulgad is co-host of the Purple Daily Podcast and Mackey & Judd podcast at www.skornorth.com

Former NFL exec Rick Spielman discusses Chiefs’ draft options at edge rusher, offensive tackle

Former NFL executive Rick Spielman spoke to @EdEastonJr about some of the #Chiefs’ options at the end of the first round at offensive tackle and edge rusher.

The Kansas City Chiefs front office is already making the tough decisions to reshape their Super Bow-winning roster for next season. The team has already parted ways with a veteran edge rusher and is now trying to adjust its offensive line depth.

Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. recently sat down with former NFL executives Mike Tannenbaum and Rick Spielman to get their thoughts on the Chiefs’ free agency and 2023 NFL draft plans. The executives spoke on behalf of The 33rd Team and assessed the decision not to offer the franchise tag to Orlando Brown Jr. for a second consecutive year. Spielman also provided some insight on where Kansas City might turn in the first round of the draft.

“In my opinion, just because it was going to be the second time they tagged Orlando Brown,” said Spielman. “So I know that would have been 120% more than he was making from the previous tag. So that can get a little dicey when you’re looking at it from the front office standpoint, do you want to put that much money into one player for just one more year? So I think that they’re going to let him go out and shop the market to see what his true value is; I think they will stay in the game with that, you know, just looking.

“I know, from a draft standpoint, that they’re definitely going (to look because) Andrew Wylie is up as well. So I think offensive tackle is going to be a huge need for them. I think where they’re picking, which is at the bottom of the first round, you may be able to get one of those tackles like a Dawand Jones. I don’t know (about) Darnell Wright, the way he has performed over the combine and how he can seems to continue to spiral upward since the season and since going through the Senior Bowl.”

Spielman was most recently the general manager for the Minnesota Vikings from 2012-2021, with other stops including the Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, and Miami Dolphins during the course of his career. He also weighed in on the Chiefs moving on from Frank Clark and their needs at edge rusher in the 2023 NFL draft.

“I think they also need some edge pass rushers too,” said Spielman. “They let Frank Clark go; they may monitor that situation, as well. I believe (Carlos) Dunlap is up as an unrestricted free agent. So when you see a guy like Nolan Smith perform like he did at the combine. A Keion White, another kid out of Georgia Tech that I think had a really good Senior Bowl. I don’t think he worked out or ran at the combine. But he’s got that physical stature that I think Steve (Spagnuolo), Andy (Reid), and I think Brett Veach all look for because I think he could be an edge guy, but also give him some rush inside as a potential nickel rusher.”

The Chiefs will need to make decisions quickly as the free agency period will bring about changes immediately that can help or hinder their chances to repeat as Super Bowl champions.

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Two former Dolphins GMs share thoughts on Chris Grier’s work, Miami’s RB situation

How do they feel the current GM has done, and how will he attack the RB position?

The 2023 NFL combine wrapped up from Indianapolis earlier this week, and in just a few days, the free agency and trading period will commence. While teams take their data and notes home from the evaluation process, media and fans take guesses and make predictions on what’s next for teams.

On Thursday night, media from USA Today’s football sites, including Dolphins Wire, gathered to speak with a pair of former NFL executives who are currently mainstays with the popular site The33rdTeam.com.

Coincidentally for this branch of The Wire’s family tree, those two executives happened to be former Miami Dolphin general managers.

Rick Spielman was an executive for the Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, Dolphins, and Minnesota Vikings. He was with Miami from 2000-04 and held titles of vice president of player personnel, vice president of football operations, as well as a 2004 general manager stint.

After the 2004 season in Miami, in which he had to deal with an abrupt retirement from running back Ricky Williams, Spielman found his way to Minnesota and became their vice president of player personnel in 2006 after a year with ESPN as an analyst in 2005. In 2012, Spielman was named general manager and, in 2017, was named NFL Executive of the Year by Pro Football Weekly.

Joining Spielman from The 33rd Team, was Mike Tannenbaum, a more recent Dolphins executive that even worked with current general manager Chris Grier. Questions were asked that were pertinent to both running backs, and Grier, but let’s put a pin in this for a minute.

Tannenbaum was Miami’s executive vice president of football operations from 2015-18, so, yes, there was a time when one could even say he was Grier’s boss. While Grier has been with Miami since 2000, it wasn’t until 2016 that he became general manager.

Tannenbaum spent time as an intern for the New Orleans Saints early in his career and went on to be a player personnel assistant with the Cleveland Browns. Hired once by Bill Parcells in New York, he was with the Jets from 1997-2012, eventually becoming general manager and senior vice president of football operations in 2012.

Since Tannenbaum’s last season with Miami was in 2018, one could also argue that 2019 was the first draft in which Grier had sole control of the war-room wheel and drove the process.

Both Spielman and Tannenbaum took an hour or so to field a variety of questions regarding the combine, draft, quarterbacks and overall league news and whispers. Before getting back to the Dolphin-centric question, the quote that Spielman had during an early question, is something that won’t easily be forgotten.

“Sometimes, you [an NFL executive] use the media to send a message,” Spielman said.

This specific statement came during quarterback talk, and when a reporter asked about the Lamar Jackson situation and the news the Atlanta Falcons are, supposedly, out of that sweepstakes.

Spielman added that he can speculate this may have been a “message” to current Falcon quarterback, Desmond Ridder. Essentially, as Spielman described, that message to Ridder could sound something like, “it’s your job to lose.”

When it was time for the conversation to turn the tide to Dolphins’ talk, the executives were asked about Grier’s patterns of running back drafting and acquiring. Of course, with the Dolphins having literally zero contracted running backs at this time, whether it’s free agency, re-signings, the draft or a combination of all three, Miami must move in this market.

However, it’s this market in which it seems Grier tends to bring coupons, as he’s seldom, if ever, spent top-dollar or high-end capital at this position. In his tenure, he’s never drafted one higher than the third round. Even in free agency, rumored interests in bigger names on the market usually led to him not over-paying and going with more economic options.

Last year, first-time Dolphin Raheem Mostert had a productive season. The former San Fransisco 49er rushed for 891 yards on a respectable 4.9 yards per carry average.  His 49er teammate, Jeff Wilson, was acquired by Miami via trade in November and had a solid back-half of the season. Wilson, in eight games for Miami, rushed for 392 yards on 4.7 yards per rush.

Having said that, if there’s ever been a year to be more aggressive at this position for Miami, as Spielman and Tannenbaum indicated, 2023 is it.

“They’ve done a good job when you look at skill players overall, obviously most notably drafting Jaylen Waddle and trading for Tyreek Hill,” Tannenbaum said. “I like Raheem Mostert a lot, he just has trouble staying healthy, and I do think they’ll wind up drafting one.”

He explained that Miami is sans a first-round pick and targeted more of a day-two prospect specifically.

“One player that really fits their scheme well would be Tyjae Spears, from Tulane,” Tannenbaum stated. “I think he’s so dynamic out of the backfield and he’s fast and he can catch… so I do think they’ll try to add a running back in this year’s draft.”

As for Spielman, who again, dealt with the direct Williams fall-out nearly 20 years ago, echoed Tannenbaum’s thoughts.

“I would just add to that; this is one of the deepest running back classes I’ve seen,” he said. “I’ve watched 15 of them, and every time I put one on, ‘oh this dude’s a real dude, he’s going to play in the NFL; I think there’s a lot of value on Saturday [of draft weekend].”

He went on to give important points starting with Miami’s current quarterback.

“I think to help Tua and to get to where Mike McDaniel wants that offense to go, they’re going to have to establish a running game like they did in San Fransisco,” he stated. “Chris has been very aggressive over the last two years, the trade for Tyreek, they went out and traded their first-round pick for [Bradley] Chubb from Denver this year, and just re-worked his deal, so I wouldn’t be surprised, and you’re seeing this a lot more is that, guys that GMs feel when they’re that close, and I think Miami is that close, that maybe they go out and be aggressive and make potentially another trade.

“I do think there is a lot of value in this draft with the running backs, not only on Thursday if [Bijan] Robinson goes, but Friday there’s a whole heap load of backs. I think on Saturday you can maybe have as much success as Kansas City when they did a great job of finding [Isiah] Pacheco last year.”

The NFL’s free agency period officially kicks off next week, and March 15 at 4:00 p.m. ET is when the race to roster enhancement truly starts.

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Vikings shock the world by trading for Jalen Reagor

After the former Vikings front office laughed at the Philadelphia Eagles passing on Justin Jefferson, the new regime trades for the player they drafted

The Minnesota Vikings had only five rostered wide receivers after final cuts, so the writing was on the wall for a move to add another receiver.

On Wednesday afternoon, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah makes his third trade in the last 24 hours in acquiring Jalen Reagor.

The third-year wide receiver from TCU was selected one pick before the Vikings picked Justin Jefferson in the 2020 NFL draft. He has had his share of struggles with the Eagles, especially with drops and getting open with route running.

What makes this intriguing for the Vikings is two-fold. One is the iconic image of the former regime Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer laughing at the Eagles for taking Reagor over Jefferson. The other is Adofo-Mensah’s Moneyball approach.

He gets an athletic and dynamic former first-round pick at a discount. Reagor will count $1.8 million towards the salary cap in 2022 and $2.4 million in 2023.

The price itself is a steep one. Not only is it a seventh-round pick in 2023 but a conditional 2024 fifth-round pick that could become a fourth if certain statistical conditions are met.

If this works out for the Vikings, they get a speedy running mate for Jefferson to replace Thielen. If it doesn’t, the potential for memes will be boundless and plentiful.

This is Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s world, we are just living in it.

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Minnesota Vikings waive former third round pick G Wyatt Davis

Rick Spielman’s 2021 draft class takes another brutal hit with another third-round pick being waived

The Minnesota Vikings have now waived their fourth member of the 2021 NFL draft class Wyatt Davis.

This is a brutal look for former general manager Rick Spielman as three of the four third-round picks he made in 2021 are no longer on the roster. Both Chazz Surratt and Kellen Mond were also casualties, along with fourth-round pick Janarius Robinson.

Davis was thought of as a potential first-round pick after 2019, but he injured his knee twice at Ohio State, causing him to fall all the way to pick number 85.

Once he got to Minnesota, he showed up out of shape and got hurt pretty quickly. Once he did get on the field, Davis was clearly a third-string guy on this roster having been supplanted by Kyle Hinton.

Be sure to keep tabs on all the Vikings roster cuts with our tracker.

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