Report: Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman To Return In 2014

Apologies for not bringing this to the forefront earlier, but I wasn't able to get fully caught up on my Vikings links until I got to work today, waaaaaaa waaaaaaaa.

Maybe most of you have already seen this, but ESPN Vikings blogger (and former Vikes beat writer for the Pioneer Press) Ben Goessling has told us...well, Goessling is re-reporting an NFL Network report...that Vikings general manager Rick Spielman will, in fact, return for the 2014 season.

For those of you that need to leave the room to go scream, we'll wait.

Okay, we're back. Look, I get the frustration a lot of you have with Spielman, I do. And I appreciate the opinion of those that think the Vikings need to clean house and completely start over. But like I mentioned in the SMR, I feel Spielman deserves at least one more year based on his entire body of work--draft, free agents signings, and trades.

Yes, he whiffed badly on Ponder. No, he shouldn't have cut Antoine Winfield...or at least not in the kind of disrespectful manner it appeared to be. And I'll even agree with Mark that he shouldn't have drafted a STINKIN' PUNTER in the fifth round.

But, when you look at the drafts he has had final say in, other than Ponder (and Locke, I guess, just based on where he was drafted), the Vikings have gotten a pretty good haul. He's re-signed guys that the Vikings identified as priorities, like Phil Loadholt. And he swung a trade for Percy Harvin, netting a first round pick when no one...and I mean no one...thought that was remotely possible.

Assuming Frazier is gone, which all indications point to right now, it kind of makes sense to keep Spielman on for a couple reasons. Namely, it puts the team even with or ahead of other teams that are looking for a new head coach and GM. If you replace a GM and a coach, you normally want to hire a GM first, so the new guy has his guy, because the GM gets to hire the coach. Unless you're Jerry Jones and you enjoy burning your franchise to the ground. The last time the Vikings hired from outside the organization, they hired Brad Childress before a GM...and ended up with no GM at all. They went with the ill-fated 'Triangle of Authority', which got blown up because Fran Foley has as much people skills as American Psycho Patrick Bateman, apparently.

But most importantly, it means RICKSPEAK LIVES INTO 2014 AND THAT CANNOT BE UNDERSTATED. On Sunday, as a matter of fact, Spielman was quoted about rumors surrounding him and his job. As always, what Rick said will be first, and what Rick meant will follow.**

**Again, no idea if that's what Rick means to say. At all.

What Rick Said Regarding His Job Status (from the Goessling post): When asked about his future after the game on Sunday, Spielman said, "I'm not going to talk about anything."

What Rick Meant: WOOOO I'M COMING BACK BITCHES...but I'm going to keep my mouth shut about it. See, I cost the Wilf's millions in the Ponder debacle and I'm hanging on by the skin of my teeth. I'm one more terrible QB away from the unemployment line but WOOOOOOO I'M BACK BITCHES!!