MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman has made his philosophy well known by now: construct the foundat

MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman has made his philosophy well known by now: construct the foundation through the draft and use free agency to supplement the core of the roster. Yeezy 700 Geode Outlet . Coming off of a five-win season and with so many holes to fill, Spielman needed to be a little more aggressive on the open market to take some of the pressure the looming draft. Spielman capped a busy first week of free agency by signing receiver Jerome Simpson and cornerback Derek Cox to one-year deals on Friday, saying he needed to move quickly to shore up the defence and give them some freedom for the May draft. The Vikings spent big money to keep defensive end Everson Griffen and sign defensive tackle Linval Joseph to replace Jared Allen and Kevin Williams. They also worked hard to keep quarterback Matt Cassel and get cornerback Captain Munnerlyn to help beef up the struggling defensive backfield, while sprinkling in Simpson, Cox and Fred Evans on one-year deals for depth. "By doing that, it sure helps you head into the draft not to get boxed in; well, youve got to take this position," Spielman said on Friday. "Now we have that flexibility to see how the draft is going to fall -- and I do believe this is a very deep draft and the potential of moving up or down in the draft to accumulate picks -- youre still going to be able to add a lot of youth and a lot of young talent that can come in and help our ball club." The Vikings pick No. 8 overall in the draft, which starts May 8. Addressing many of their most pressing needs in free agency frees Spielman to get creative. With Cassel, he doesnt have to draft a quarterback early. With Joseph there to occupy double teams, he doesnt have to get a run stuffer to play next to last years first-round pick, Sharrif Floyd. With Munnerlyn on one corner opposite Xavier Rhodes, and Cox added to a group that also includes Marcus Sherels and Josh Robinson, he doesnt have to draft a cornerback right away. The aggressiveness also gives a new coaching staff that includes head coach Mike Zimmer, offensive co-ordinator Norv Turner and defensive co-ordinator George Edwards, a solid veteran base with which to work. "I think by the activity that weve done so far, its by no means the end of what were going to do," Spielman said. "Well continue to monitor the market and work through the next couple weeks. But it gives us the flexibility that well need heading into the draft, where you dont have to hone and say you have to take this position. Again, with the opportunity as we develop our draft board to take the best available player." Simpson bounced back from an injury-plagued first season in Minnesota in 2012 with a solid season last year. He caught 48 passes for a career-high 726 yards in 2013 and expressed a desire to return to the Vikings when the season closed. Spielman said the Vikings like the deep threat Simpson brings to the table alongside fellow receivers Greg Jennings and Cordarrelle Patterson. But Simpson could face discipline from the league for a drunken driving arrest when next season opens. "He does have explosive speed down the field and does give us a vertical threat, but we felt confident enough and comfortable enough after the new coaching staff had met with him and understand the whole circumstance behind that last arrest that we re-signed him back to a one-year deal," Spielman said. Spielman said the Vikings were in talks to bring back left guard Charlie Johnson and were not closing the door on a possible return for Williams, the stalwart defensive tackle who has anchored Minnesotas line since 2003. The Vikings hosted defensive tackle Henry Melton for a visit, but he left on Thursday without a deal. "Theres no decision thats been made," Spielman said of Williams. "I told him wed leave it open. But we were trying to address some other needs that we definitely wanted to get done first." Yeezy 700 Online . Returning to Davis Cup tennis, Federer cruised past Ilija Bozoljac, winning 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in less than two hours. Federer faced little challenge from Bozoljac, who served well but still was no match for his Swiss opponent. Yeezy 700 Vanta Buy Online . Thats when the eight-time champion revealed that a painful back is slowing his serves -- and, all in all, giving him more trouble than his opponents so far. http://www.yeezy700outlet.com/ . Mike Ribeiro had a goal and an assist as Phoenix held on to snap a two-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday.PITTSBURGH -- Ike Davis made his first home run with the Pittsburgh Pirates a memorable one. Davis became the first player to hit grand slams for different teams in the same April, and Neil Walker had a run-scoring single with two outs in the ninth inning as the Pirates twice overcame deficits to beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-5 Monday night. Pittsburgh trailed 2-0 before Davis fourth-inning homer off Mike Leake. Davis hit a game-winning, ninth-inning slam off the Reds J.J. Hoover on April 5 for the New York Mets, who traded him to the Pirates on Friday. According to STATS, no player previously hit slams for different teams in the same April. Davis became just the third to hit slams for different teams against the same opponent in the same year, following Ray Boone in 1953 and Mike Piazza in 1998. "We knew thats what he was capable of doing when we traded for him," Walker said. "As a left-handed hitter in this ballpark, I can envision him hitting more balls over that Clemente Wall in right field. This is just the start." Leake said he made a good pitch and gave credit to Davis, his former college teammate at Arizona State. "I broke his bat and he still hit it out," Leake said. "Thats how strong he is." With nobody out, Davis was just trying not to kill a rally rather than trying to hit a grand slam. "I wanted something up because I know Mike has a good changeup and sinker so I didnt want to ground into a double play," Davis said. "I was just looking for something I could hit into the outfield, either get a sac fly, base hit or, hopefully if I hit it good enough, a homer. I was just trying to get the ball in the air." The Pirates were behind 5-4 before Andrew McCutchens leadoff homer in the eighth against Manny Parra. Walker got the winning hit off Hoover (1-2) after consecutive one-out walks to Russell Martin and Andrew&nbbsp;McCutchen followed by Pedro Alvarezs popout. Yeezy 700 2020 Outlet. . "Its totally on me," Hoover said of the loss. "I hung a curveball on 1-2 count to Walker when I was trying to bury it in the dirt and I left it up a little bit where he could handle it. And you cant walk guys and expect to have good results." Jared Hughes (1-0) pitched a scoreless, two-hit ninth for the win after being recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis earlier in the day. "Im in Indianapolis yesterday and in Pittsburgh today getting a win," Hughes said. "Thats pretty cool." Cincinnati had taken a 5-4 lead in the eighth when Brandon Phillips and Todd Frazier singled off Francisco Liriano, Jay Bruce hit an RBI double against Justin Wilson and, after an intentional walk to Ryan Ludwick, Devin Mesoraco hit a run-scoring single. McCutchen and Walker each had three hits for the Pirates, while Mesoraco, Phillps and Frazier had three hits each for Cincinnati. Mesoraco has a hit in all 10 games hes played this season and is batting 541. Liriano gave up five runs -- four earned -- and seven hits in seven-plus innings. Leake allowed eight hits in seven innings. NOTES: Boone, playing for Cleveland and Detroit, hit slams against the St. Louis Browns in 1953. Piazza, playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, hit slams against Arizona. ... Pirates LHP Wandy Rodriguez was placed on the 15-day DL with right knee tendinitis, opening a roster spot for Hughes. ... Reds LHP Aroldis Chapman is tentatively scheduled to throw batting practice Wednesday, the first time he will face hitters since sustaining facial fractures March 19 when he was hit by a line drive during a spring training game. The closer had a 45-pitch bullpen session Sunday. . Cincinnati RHP Johnny Cueto (1-2, 1.50) faces Pittsburgh RHP Edinson Volquez (1-0, 1.71) on Tuesday night. ' ' '