National Football League

Vikings GM Rick Spielman defends his stunning trade for Sam Bradford

Published Sep. 8, 2016 4:38 p.m. ET

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The Minnesota Vikings were in desperate need of a quarterback when Teddy Bridgewater went down with a knee injury late last month. General manger Rick Spielman said despite the predicament he would remain disciplined even though teams were asking for "crazy things" in trade talks.

But when Spielman did make the move -- trading a first- and a fourth-round pick for Sam Bradford -- many observers believed the Vikings paid too high of a price for the injury-prone, former No. 1 pick.

But despite the criticism, Spielman defended the move by pointing to the club's stockpile of draft picks.

"We do have a two, two three's, two fours and a lot of draft picks," Spielman said, via Pro Football Talk. "We have eight draft picks coming up in the 2017 draft, and we have a history of moving up both into the first round and moving back and accumulating picks. "

Fair point, but Bradford has been far from a reliable quarterback during his first six years in the NFL. He's missed 33 regular-season games in that span due to a variety of injuries. He has yet to post his first winning season and has thrown for more than 20 touchdowns just once.

But Spielman points to Bradford's production last season, throwing for 3,725 yards with 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, and his preseason output with the Eagles as proof that he could be a valuable asset.

"We've studied all of his games last year and even what he looked like in the preseason and we thought he played extremely well, especially in the last three or four ball games last year," Spielman said. "He lit it up in the preseason this year. I think having (tight ends coach) Pat Shurmur on the staff gave us great insight on his opinion on Sam Bradford, because he had him not only in St. Louis but in Philly as well. I think we have a football team right now that has a good supporting cast around him."