The Vikings last played in the NFC title game in January 2010. Defensive end Brian Robison will be the lone holdover to be playing for the Purple in Philadelphia.
The rebuilding of the roster reached a point in 2017 that the rivals to the east, in the form of Packers President Mark Murphy, were forced to admit that they had fallen behind the Vikings and needed a fresh approach to player acquisition.
That is quite a contrast to earlier in this decade, when GM Rick Spielman suggested the Vikings would emulate the Packers (and Ted Thompson) in trying to come out of the annual draft with nine or 10 roster candidates.
It was an idea that came and went. More than anything, the Vikings have benefitted in recent drafts by going almost always with the athlete and hope the flaws in technique or attitude can be fixed.
What's intriguing about the impressive roster building in the past eight years is Spielman's spotty record with first-rounders. Consider:
2010: Spielman was sharing power with Brad Childress. The Vikings traded the 30th pick to Detroit (Jahvid Best) to select early in the second round and took Chris Cook. The Vikings won because they also got a fourth-rounder and took Everson Griffen at No. 100.
2011: Cristian Ponder at No. 12. This was all Spielman, and a fail.
2012: Spielman went down one spot and took Matt Kalil at No. 4. Fail. He also received No. 29 overall … Harrison Smith. A+.
