After firing Mike Tice shortly after the 2005 season finale, new Minnesota Vikings' owner Zygi Wilf set up his football operation under a "Triangle of Authority" that included head coach Brad Childress, Vice President of Player Personnel Fran Foley, and Vice President of Football Operations/Salary Cap Genius Rob Brzezinski. After the 2006 NFL Draft, Foley was relieved of his duties and replaced with Rick Spielman, who had previously served as the General Manager of the Miami Dolphins.
The "Triangle of Authority" has always been a bit of a ridiculous concept, as it created confusion in the draft room and in player personnel decisions. Viking fans have long clamored for the team to hire a General Manager to have final say over all of those decisions. That's exactly what happened today, as it was announced that Rick Spielman has, indeed, been promoted to the role of General Manager of the Minnesota Vikings.
As the linked article from KFAN.com points out, the Vikings have been sort of up-and-down personnel-wise during the time Spielman has been a part of the team, but hopefully that will change with Spielman being the final voice in the various personnel decisions that will take place with this football team.
Spielman will be joining Coach Leslie Frazier at his press conference at 1 PM Central time. The press conference will be carried by KFAN, so you can either tune it in on your radio, or listen to the live stream here.