Decision on Spielman’s Future Solely Controls Future of Vikings
Dustin Baker
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Wholesale change is coming for the Minnesota Vikings, unless the franchise finds a way to actionize a Super Bowl sprint after starting the 2021 season with a 5-7 record.
That is unlikely. No team has ever reached a Super Bowl after starting a season 5-7. The Super Bowl-deprived Vikings probably aren’t starting the trend.
Therefore, the team is tunneling toward a playoff-less season for the second consecutive year. Resultantly, head coach Mike Zimmer will likely be terminated, ushering in a new era of Vikings football.
But who will fire Zimmer? That’s is the humongous question to ponder leading up to the NFL’s infamous Black Monday. On Zimmer’s watch, the Vikings are the league’s 10th-best team per wins and losses, but Minnesota made a significant playoff push just once in eight seasons. That was 2017. Zimmer’s time is up, barring something magical in the next five weeks.
The wildcard, after establishing the Zimmer-is-gone formality, is the general manager. Will that be Rick Spielman? Or will that be someone else?
The Vikings next half-decade [and maybe more] depend on the answer to that question. Are the merits of Spielman through nine years of official general management commendable enough to hire the next head coach and make the decision on Kirk Cousins’ contract?
If you’re a diligent Vikings fan, Spielman-yes or Spielman-no should consume your sports thoughts. He is the hinge. He is the swivel. He is the domino to determine the fate of the Vikings.
Here’s why.
Spielman orchestrated the Cousins contract – and subsequent extension – in 2018 and then in 2020. Cousins is producing these numbers right now, ranking as a bonafide Top 10 passer in the NFL:
Spielman likely believes this is good – and indicative of the primary reason he brought Cousins aboard. Hell, the rankings are good. They’re absolutely tremendous, in fact.
Yet, some fans and pundits want the team to start fresh with a new head coach – and quarterback. Spielman could reasonably hire a new coach – that’s his job – but trading Cousins may not tickle his fancy.
However, if Vikings ownership cans Zimmer and Spielman, well, it’s a brand new ballgame. The next general manager would be faced with “what do with Cousins,” either ignoring Cousins’ production in favor of “QB Wins” arguments and thus trading the Michigan State alumnus elsewhere — or he could allow Cousins to finish the $45 million final year on his contract.
A new general manager is the great unknown. Spielman would probably hire a replacement head coach who can win with his core nucleus of current players. After all, the Vikings possess one of the youngest offenses in the NFL. They’re not old and frail. This new head coach would be the anti-Zimmer, a person who can close out games and return the Vikings to playoffs – as Spielman envisioned all along.
Someone not named Spielman will have the option to fire-sale everything. Get rid of Cousins, Danielle Hunter, Adam Thielen, Eric Kendricks – basically everybody with a big contract, setting into motion a full rebuild. This could look like the way the Detroit Lions or New York Jets run their businesses, instead of a coaching change akin to the Dallas Cowboys shift away from Jason Garrett a couple of years ago.
There are two schools of thought: Re-tool with a new head coach or rebuild with a new general manager and head coach. Get familiar with those choices.
It comes down to this on Spielman or no-Spielman: The Vikings will probably hire a new head coach who can win with Spielman’s guys if Spielman is not fired. If Spielman is fired, a new general manager will arrive in Minnesota and then hire his players and coaches.
And that decision directly determines the Vikings short-term and long-term future.
All in all, it doesn’t matter how much time you think about “fire Zimmer” chants and visions of a Zimmerless future. He’s gone (unless the Vikings miraculously turn things around fast).
It’s the decision on Spielman that is the smoking gun.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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