Former Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman has established a heavy presence on social media since he was fired last January and on Tuesday, he gave some insight on what it was like to decide roster cuts.
Spielman recalled cutting veterans as he whittled his roster down to 53 during training camp, but the conversation took a turn when he revealed the player he most regrets cutting: Daniel Carlson.
"He's had a great career since we cut him and continued to have a great career and may go down as one of the best kickers in NFL history," Spielman said. "That I do regret."
The Vikings traded up to select Carlson in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft but he had a rough time acclimating to his new team. After he missed two extra points during a preseason game, Mike Zimmer infamously went for two on his next touchdown to send a message to the young kicker.
Carlson still won the job out of training camp and had a perfect debut against the San Francisco 49ers, but he missed three kicks including a potential game-winner the following week against the Green Bay Packers.
The Vikings cut him and signed Dan Bailey.
Carlson signed with the Las Vegas Raiders later that season and nailed 34 of his final 35 kicks including 16 of 17 field goals to close the year.
Since the start of the 2019 season, Carlson ranks seventh among kickers (min. 40 attempts) with an 88.5% field goal rate. He also turned in the best season of his career in 2021, knocking down 40 field goals on 43 attempts while tying New England's Nick Folk with a league-leading 150 points.
Meanwhile, the Vikings' kicker carousel continued as Bailey converted just 79.7% of his field-goal attempts over three seasons in Minnesota. Bailey was released after the 2020 season and replaced with Greg Joseph, who converted 33-of-38 field goals (86.8%) but also missed a game-winning kick against the Arizona Cardinals.
New special teams coordinator Matt Daniels believes Joseph will have the best year of his career this season, but it's not enough to ease the pain of a cursed franchise that has seen Gary Anderson miss in the 1998 NFC Championship game and Blair Walsh shank a 27-yard field goal into the Mississippi River in a playoff loss to the Seahawks.
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