Minnesota has had to deal with plenty of turnover on its coaching staff and front office recently.
Last offseason, the Vikings saw offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski leave to become head coach of the Browns. This week, Gary Kubiak announced that he was retiring, leaving with team without an offensive coordinator yet again.
The front office has dealt with a similar issue. Vikings assistant GM George Paton departed to become the GM of the Broncos this offseason. Paton has already talked with reporters as a staff member of Denver. He has said some things that seem to reflect some of the Vikings’ approach. Like this, for example:
“Now when you go outside, will you be aggressive and dip into free agency or the trade market? Yeah, every now and then, but it takes that right type of player to do that, Paton said, via our friends at Broncos Wire. “I think we all believe in drafting and developing and making them into your own. That’s the best way to build a football team.”
This makes sense when you consider how many picks the Vikings try to accumulate for each draft. In fact, Minnesota broke a record for most selections in a seven-round draft.
Sure, the Vikings have made splashes in free agency from time to time, but when you look at the current roster makeup of this team, most of the key contributors either come from the draft or signed with the team as undrafted free agents. Paton thinks that’s the best way to build a football team. It shows in how his former employer approaches things.
Paton also said this:
“We all believe that to draft and develop talent that you bring high character players into your organization, you develop them and hopefully get them second contracts, and that’s how you build your best culture.”