Fan Reaction to Mike Zimmer & Rick Spielman…

And Spielman smashed a few out of the park early on when he became the GM in 2012. In his first three years in that role, he took seven different players in the first round of the NFL Draft. Nearly all of them — Matt Kalil, Harrison Smith, Xavier Rhodes, Cordarrelle Patterson, Anthony Barr and Teddy Bridgewater — were named to at least one Pro Bowl.

But if we look at Spielman’s first-round history from 2015-2021, he also took the same number of first-round picks: seven. Four of those players — Trae Waynes, Laquon Treadwell, Mike Hughes, and Jeff Gladney — are no longer on the roster for one reason or another.

Garrett Bradbury hasn’t lived up to expectations and didn’t return to the starting center position immediately once he returned from the Reserve/COVID-19 list. He said it “was a wakeup call.” Jefferson is a bona fide star, and Christian Darrisaw looks to be a strong foundational piece. Jefferson is the only one of those players to make a Pro Bowl.

Spielman’s best draft class was undoubtedly the 2015 edition, which produced key starters in Waynes, Kendricks, Danielle Hunter and Stefon Diggs. And while that draft class is one of the best in franchise history, Spielman couldn’t replicate the success in recent years despite trying a similar formula of drafting mid-round edge rushers and linebackers, late-round wide receivers and trying to hit on so, so many picks in the sixth and seventh rounds.

On the trade front, Spielman also struggled a bit in recent years. The Sam Bradford deal was needed to replace Bridgewater, but it came at a costly price and at a time when the Vikings were trending toward going all in on winning.

Other deals, whether it was for Kaare Vedvik, dealing away Hughes or acquiring Chris Herndon, simply didn’t work out in Minnesota’s favor.

And then there is the decision to sign Kirk Cousins, which will go down as Spielman’s biggest decision in his time here.

Nobody envisioned the Vikings going 33-31-1 in the quarterback’s first four seasons here. The expectation when he was signed — both internally and externally — was to be annual playoff participants and at least get back to the NFC title game.

It didn’t happen that way, and Spielman is now no longer in his role because of it.

On a personal level, I enjoyed my interactions with Rick, even if they were a bit goofy at times. But he personally texted me when my mom passed away three years ago and was a help for whatever project I was working on.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Wilfs likely agonized on the decision to let him go. But sometimes a change is needed for all involved.

And that doesn’t mean that Spielman shouldn’t be proud of his time here. He will long be remembered as a key figure in the story of the Minnesota Vikings.

As for being “rudderless” or wanting a coach to do personnel, Mark Wilf said the plan is to hire a GM first before selecting the 10th head coach in franchise history. He also expressed a confidence in the football operations department that remains.

“We’re just trying to elevate off this foundation we have here and get it to the next level, so we do feel we have the resources here to do the search internally,” Mark Wilf said. “We know as ownership we’re not making the decision ourselves. We have a lot of great input with a lot of great thought going into it from around this building and around the league, and that’s how we’re going to make this decision.

“We’re going to be thoughtful about it. We’re not going to rush into it. We’re going to be deliberate. We’re going to be thorough,” he continued. “We’re not going to say we have to have this or we have to have that. We want to get people that are great communicators, great leaders and know how to create a culture that people can thrive in on the field, off the field, all around.”