Morning breakfast with the Vikings

My father-in-law invited me to Dunker's this morning with guest speaker Rick Spielman, VP of Player Personnel for the Vikes (for some reason I also get him confused with Chris Spielman LB from the Lions.) He basically went through an overview of the process the team takes in addressing position needs both through the draft or through UFAs (Unrestricted Free Agents, a little insider lingo for you.) No real surprises in what he said. Basically, since he came on board 2 years ago 85% of the Vikes roster has turned over which tells you a lot about the faith they had in the team from the Tice Era. He said that in the off season they have a list of 8 needs and if they could fill 6 of them they were a playoff/Superbowl caliber team. He didn't list those 8 needs per se but discussed them generally. What I picked up was this:

1. Wide Receiver - There was no one in the draft that they wanted and the Vikes had identified Bernard Berrian as the player they wanted in the UFA process. Money got a bit out of control when negotiating the deal but the Wilf family stepped up and gave them the green light to go after whatever talent they thought they needed. He is excited about the receiving corps with Berrian, Rice, and Aundray Allison.

2. Defensive Lineman - Again, Spielman didn't think there was a way to get one of the 3 defensive lineman in the draft (proved right when those 3 were taken in the top 10 and the Vikes would have missed out at #17.) When Jared Allen came up Spielman again said the Wilf family was all about getting the best player available and would put up the cash to do it. The interesting note he made was that Jared Allen became a possibility because of the Vikes relationship with his agent, a relatively unknown guy, who the Vikes had dealt with in the past and maintained contact with. Like we said, the Vikes felt that getting Allen for what we gave up was like having a top pick in the draft (and for a proven player at that.)

3. QB - No discussion of the TJac situation. Talked briefly about having Booty and Wright in camp and what they can bring. Liked the depth at the position.

4. Secondary - Getting Madieu Williams from the Bengals and drafting Tyrell Johnson were off season highlights. He said that they liked Johnson from when he was at the combine and that after they scouted him they didn't want to lose him to another team so no one talked about him at Winter Park in order to prevent other teams from thinking the Vikes wanted him that badly. Yeah, lot of cat and mouse in the NFL.

5. Offensive line - Nothing. Sid asked about the McKinnie situation. Spielman dodged it and said there is a hearing coming up and skirted the "suspension" issue.

That was basically it. Overall, relatively insightful on the Vikes off season. Spielman thinks they are loaded this year and that Allen is going to be the face of this franchise for the foreseeable future because of his ability on the field and personality/leadership in the locker room. He also went out of his way to talk about how in his 18 years in this business he has never worked for owners like the Wilf family who is all about winning and doing the right things.