General

Viking Team Bucks Accepted Model of Modern Team Building

Jan 14, 2010, 5:37 PM UTC

The sermonized approach to team building throughout the free agent era in the NFL has been the one made famous by teams like the Steelers, Colts and Patriots: shrewd working of the draft to acquire hidden talent in the later rounds, coupled with the occasional low-cost but high value free agent acquisition. By contrast, the repeated cautionary tale has involved the free spending types - the Dan Snyders or Jerry Jones of the football world, whose recklessness and deep pockets can generate headlines, but not guarantee success.â†µâ†µWhich is why this year’s Vikings team could complicate that modern NFL orthodoxy. Half of the team’s starters were drafted by other teams, including stars Jared Allen, Steve Hutchinson, Antoine Winfield and Brett Favre. Adrian Peterson might be the only big name player the Vikings acquired through the draft, and he was a can’t-miss pick high in the first round. Compare that with the AFC’s top seeds, the Colts and the Chargers, who each only have one starter who was not brought up through the organization.â†µ

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â†µThe team owes this success to the machinations of salary cap specialist Rob Brzezinski, who has managed to fit two franchise players from other teams on the roster while still giving them the flexibility to pursue additional free agents, as well as general manager Rick Spielman. Credit too belongs to owner Zygi Wilf, who has given full authority to his team executives to make these moves and has spared no expense in the process.â†µ

â†µâ†µOf course, the flaw in this strategy remains that, even if a team bats 1.000 on the free agent market, it is still loaded with players who are generally older than a team manufactured through the draft. Such is the case of a team led by a 40-year-old quarterback, who is uncertain to return next year. Head coach Brad Childress told the Wall Street Journal, “We’d love to have a franchise quarterback that is going to play on for 15 years.”â†µ

â†µâ†µHe might want to consider drafting one.â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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