Ex-Vikings GM Rick Spielman content watching NFL trade deadline from Sanibel Island

Rick Spielman now lives in Sanibel Island, Fla., loves pickleball, plays golf to a 14-handicap that used to be a 20, and, oh yeah, studies film of the NFL and its draft prospects as closely as he did when he was Vikings general manager.

"I got seven or eight media side jobs going right now," said Spielman, who was with the Vikings from 2006-21, the last 10 seasons as GM.

At 60, Spielman says he has no interest in returning to an NFL front office. He says he didn't know how much he wanted to start living this chapter of his life until owners Zygi and Mark Wilf forced it by firing him and head coach Mike Zimmer after the 2021 season.

Spielman said he harbors no ill will and still stays in touch with his Purple-clad "family" up here, including the Wilfs. He made it through Hurricane Ian last fall and sounds too happy, too sun-splashed and too busy for bitterness.

He has a weekly draft podcast on CBS. A show on SiriusXM NFL Radio. Trips to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday mornings to co-host an NFL pregame radio. Guest appearances. And he writes for the 33^rd Team website, admitting that he's better at watching film — lots and lots of film — than he is as a wordsmith.

"I don't think my writing is going to win the Pulitzer this year," he joked.

The NFL spent the past week once again reminding everyone who covers the league — including the newbie "reporter" from Sanibel Island — just how aggressive and impatient it can be.

For years, few even noticed the trade deadline. In 2015, one player was dealt in the week before the deadline.

Then …

In 2022, 19 were traded the week before the deadline, including a record 13 on the final day. This year, 14 players were traded in October, including six on Tuesday, the final day.

"There are a few reasons," Spielman said.

In no particular order …

1. The Rams used the trade deadline in 2021 to acquire Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr. It put them over the hump.

"It's a copycat league, and when the Rams won a Super Bowl, it's, 'OK, well, we can do that, too,' " Spielman said. "And the younger GMs, they are way more aggressive. They're more worried about the now. The older GMs or the GMs of the past have tried to help the now, but you also wanted to make sure that you had the future under control, too."

2. Impatience.

"Of course, turnover in head coaches and GMs seems to be going toward focusing on the now," Spielman said. "Who knows what the GMs think, but I think they think they're in a win-now mode more than ever."

On cue, hours after Tuesday's trade deadline, the Raiders fired coach Josh McDaniels and General Manager Dave Ziegler 25 games after they were hired.

3. Compensatory picks are tradable assets, and more are available thanks to new rules to encourage minority hiring.

According to NFL 2020 Resolution JC-2A, "the employer-club of a minority employee who has been hired by another club as its Head Coach or Primary Football Executive (General Manager) shall receive … a compensatory Draft pick in the third round in each of the next two Drafts … or for the next three Drafts if it has two employees hired for both positions."

"When the 49ers lost both DeMeco Ryans to Houston as head coach and Ran Carthon to Tennessee as GM, they got multiple extra third-round picks," Spielman said. "That's incredible capital with which to move people."

The rich-getting-richer 49ers sent one of those picks to Washington on Tuesday to acquire pass rusher Chase Young, a former No. 2 overall pick in the last year of his rookie deal. If the 49ers lose Young to free agency after the season, no biggie. They'll get another compensatory third-round pick back.

4. Owners willing to eat salary.

"Another factor is teams are more willing to eat some of the salary of the players they trade away," Spielman said. "In the past, that wasn't the case."

That played a role in Spielman's buddy Howie Roseman, the Eagles GM, getting two-time first-team All-Pro safety Kevin Byard from Tennessee for fifth- and sixth-round picks and safety Terrell Edmunds.

"Looks like Tennessee is in rebuild mode and Philadelphia obviously is in Super Bowl win-now mode," Spielman said. "They know each other's situations. You get together and work it out, and Philadelphia gets the safety they desperately needed."

Meanwhile, old "Trader Rick" seems quite content to watch it all from the sandy sidelines in Sanibel Island.

"Hey, I joined a men's league and broke 40 for 9 holes the first time ever a couple weeks ago," he said. "Of course, I was lucky to play 10 times a year in Minnesota."