Because of the Christian Ponder situation, we talked a lot about fifth-year options in this space over the past month or so. Two weeks ago, I wrote about the possibility of the Vikings and other NFL teams trading back into the first round to pick up that extra year of contractual control.
It turns out I was on to something. For once.
Last night, after the Vikings traded their second-round pick and their fourth-round pick to the Seahawks for the 32nd overall pick, which they used to select Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, general manager Rick Spielman acknowledged that beyond wanting to secure one of the top quarterbacks on their board for 2014, they also wanted to secure him for 2018, as well.
"The other thing that we felt was very, very important was debating whether you sit and wait or do you go ahead and get a guy up there on your board who you really liked at that position and felt just going to make that move up to 32nd was very important," Spielman said while explaining the thought process of trading up. "The other thing that comes into play is that fifth-year option, which is a key part of it as well and that was also a part of the discussion of moving up."
Spielman declined to say whether making beat writers rip up their game stories was also a consideration in his annual late-night dealings. But hey, at least he keeps us all on our toes.
