Rick Spielman had “no intent” to trade Percy Harvin in 2012. Spielman also said there was “no reason” to believe any of the Stefon Diggs trade rumors just weeks before he wound up dealing Diggs to Buffalo.
Bottom line: When Spielman speaks, take it with a grain of salt – unless he’s taking specific directions from an interviewer, as was the case over the weekend when Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio got Spielman to jokingly say he has “no intent” sign Harvin, who is looking to make a comeback in the NFL.
“We have no intent to sign Percy Harvin,” Spielman said with a chuckle.
Harvin recently told ESPN’s Josina Anderson that he’s “ready to return to the NFL.”
“I thought I was done, but that itch came back. I’ve been training with a former Olympian. My body is feeling good. Mentally I’m better. My family is good. The timing is right,” Harvin said.
Anderson posted videos of Harvin doing squats and sprinting up a parking ramp, revealing a shredded physique for the former Pro Bowl receiver whose once-promising career was upended by injuries, migraines and an anxiety disorder that he opened up about in a 2018 interview with Sports Illustrated.
Harvin, who turns 32 this month, has been out of the NFL since 2016, last playing in a pair of games for the Bills.
Before that he suited up with the Seahawks, winning a Super Bowl in 2014 and prior to that he spent time with the Vikings from 2009 until he was traded midway through the 2012 season.
More from Spielman from his interview with Florio
On the Diggs trade: “We weren’t looking to trade Stefon at all,” he said. “You don’t know when opportunities come your way and we felt it was a great deal.”
On contract talks with running back Dalvin Cook: “We believe in paying our own players. Those are the guys that we develop, we know them the best, we know what they are from a work-ethic standpoint, we know what type of players they are. But we also know what they mean to our community and how involved they are. Dalvin checks all of those boxes. He’s a very good football player but he’s even a better human being.”
Is it possible for defensive end Everson Griffen to return to Minnesota? “It’s hard to say right now,” said Spielman. “I’ll never say never on player, but it’d be very hard from a salary cap standpoint.”
