Upon accepting a promotion to become the Vikings' new general manager Tuesday, Rick Spielman promised to be more upfront and more available to the media going forward. On Day 2 of the job, Spielman began making good on that promise, doing lengthy interviews with Mike Florio on NBC's Pro Football Talk web show and with Judd Zulgad and Joe Anderson on "Judd & Phunn" on 1500 ESPN.

If you're not on your toes, Spielman has a skill for slithering away from direct questions, often speaking in very broad terms. That's why in the coming months, as Spielman continues to magnetize the spotlight on center stage, you'll hear a lot of generalities repeated. Just to get those out of the way, Spielman accepts responsibility for the Vikings' disastrous 3-13 seasons, has a goal of bringing championships to Minnesota and believes his promotion will help create clarity in the decision-making processes at Winter Park as they relate to personnel. (Don't expect Spielman to directly answer many questions about April's draft, the Vikings' plans in free agency or the changes to the coaching staff that Leslie Frazier is currently considering.)

But Spielman did open up to Florio, Zulgad and Anderson on several matters of note today. Here are the Spielman quotes of note from those interviews.

On why the Vikings opted to elevate him into a GM's role: "I think everyone that's in the playoffs for the most part has this type of structure. I know everyone in our current division -- and you know, we play in the toughest division in the NFL right now -- has this type of structure. And they've had success with this type of structure. And I felt our ownership felt very strongly about going in this direction."

On how he landed a promotion after the Vikings finished 3-13 this season: "I think what the ownership is doing is they see the body of work that's been done. I think what they want to see is by putting this structure in place, is this going to help clarify things on how we're doing things moving forward? And I know in this role, you're going to have to prove yourself. You're going to have to make the right decisions. You're going to have to get this football team better. But that's part of making some changes and putting me in this role."

On what he saw in Christian Ponder during his rookie season: "I'm very excited about some of the things he has shown. He also had his struggles just like most rookie quarterbacks have had during the season. But very excited about some of the unique tihngs that he was able to do on the field when he was there. What you saw is when he first came in it was almost like he didn't know what he didn't know and played pretty well. Then all of a sudden, when you see some of the turnovers happen, then all of a sudden they start thinking a little bit. 'Well, I better not turn the ball over.' And not playing as, what I would say, loose. Then I think what you saw a little bit towards the end, is he started to play a little bit better toward the end and not worrying so much."

On Adrian Peterson's recovery from major knee surgery and whether he will be available for Week 1 of 2012: "I know that we're going to make sure that he is 100 percent. Until our medical staff and doctors rell us that he's 100 percent to go on the field, we're not going to put him out there to risk injury. But I also know Adrian is a pretty unique indvidual. Not only what he does on the field, not only his physical ability, but how he's going to attack this rehab. In just speaking with Adrian and knowing his attitude, it's 'I'm going to prove that this ACL is not going to affect me in any way, shape or form. In fact, I'm going to be better than I was coming off this thing. And I'm going to attack tihs rehab like it's going to make me better.'"

On evaluating the roster makeup going forward: "Again, when you're 3-13, you're going to look at every area. But I think we'll start that process next week. We have our personnel meetings next week. All our scouts are in. Our coaches are in. We conduct it similar to how we do draft meetings and [unrestricted free agent] meetings. And we're going to have to have open and frank and very objective discussions on 'Can this guy play for us? Can we win with this guy or we can't?' And if we can't win with 'em, then we're going to have to move on. But then the next process is, OK, we're going to move on from this player, how are we going to replace that player? That's where the UFA meetings come into effect and that's where you get the draft coming into effect too."

On his philosophy on what needs to be done: "I believe that you have to get young and you have to continue to get young year in and year out. And you can't let your roster get old all at once. Because if you do, then it's hard to replace all those guys at one time. So we started that process a little bit last year. We had nine of our 10 [2011] draft picks make it. A lot of them ended up contributing this year. And we're going to have another nine or 10 draft picks this year. ... And we'll expect every one of those guys to come in and contribute as well."
On building a foundation to sustain success: "Those teams that continually have a competitive roster year in and year out, don't go that all-in type theory that was started '09 and bring that same roster back in 2010 because we were so close. Because eventually that catches up to you. And the quarterback's the key. The head coach and the quarterback and the talent you can put around the quarterback and playing good defense."

On the biggest change fans might see in Spielman now that he's the GM: "Again, with the general manager's title, you're going to be out in front more, dealing with issues that do arise. You're going to know from the standpoint of when we do make personnel moves and personnel decisions who's responsible for those decisions. It's not going to be, 'Did he do this?' Or 'Did he do that?' It's all my responsibility now. That's going to be the biggest change. Now when we start making roster moves and things like that, the coaches and everybody will be involved in that process. But I'll have the ability to make the final say on how we're going to move forward.."