Spielman: Potential Upcoming Roster Moves Are 'Toughest Part' of My Job

[Viktor]

"But you don't want to make knee-jerk decisions just because you're mad after we didn't play very well against San Fran, so all of a sudden, no one on your 53 can play because you're so emotionally raw from that," Spielman continued. "So you want to just make sure you're away from it and then when you come back you've got a whole different perspective than if you're just trying to make knee-jerk decisions off of raw emotions."


Spielman has been in this position before, not that it makes it any easier. He mentioned having to move on from notable names such as Adrian Peterson and Brian Robison as the difficult parts of his job.


"I know if you do have the tendency to move on, there's a right way to do it, and hopefully you do it with dignity," Spielman said. "You know, one of the hardest ones was B-Rob's situation, when we had to let B-Rob go.


"That's a guy who was not only a great football player for us on the field, but a fan favorite, a super human being in the community and everything he's done," Spielman added.


Spielman was asked directly about cornerback Xavier Rhodes, who has been up and down in recent years following an All-Pro season in 2017.


Spielman that that he's planning on meeting with numerous players' agents here in Indianapolis to try and sort through potential roster moves.


"I'm scheduled to sit down with his agent as well. Xavier has been a Pro Bowl corner, you know?" Spielman said. "He maybe had not as great of a year as he's had in the past, but he still helped us win games. So he's just one of them, just like every other player. We talk about the practice squad guys. And then you take each one of those individual players and then assess where they're at in their career and where they're at financially, and then you make decisions.


"I'm not going to say who is or who isn't part of the future yet. I don't know," Spielman added. "Until I get in front of and talk with these agents a little bit and then we get back and see where we're at, to put the whole piece together."


Rhodes has played 104 career games (with 97 starts) in Purple since being the 25th overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. (Minnesota also currently holds the 25th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.)


While it remains to be seen what, if any, moves the Vikings make as far as letting potential veterans go, Minnesota will also have to navigate through free agency as well.