The sizable shift that's coming for the Vikings' 2020 roster, as General Manager Rick Spielman characterized it this week, is a natural part of the NFL life cycle, planned out years in advance and carefully managed by a front office that rarely lacks for diligence.
Spielman used the word "evolution" three times in his pre-draft news conference Tuesday to describe an offseason where the Vikings parted ways with four long-term defensive starters, as well as cornerback Mackensie Alexander. Little of it, in his telling, caught the team off guard, and much of it can be managed by the processes the Vikings used to build their defense in the first place.