Murphy: The defining decision of a regime is upon us
Brian Murphy writes about the challenges that face the Vikings brass as they make the call at quarterback
By Brian Murphy
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah went to Stanford grad school to become an economics professor, destined to lecture in patched elbows and tortoise shelled glasses about supply and demand, gross domestic product, trade and tariffs.
Forget the tweedy wardrobe but remember the high-minded pursuit when he preaches from the podium Wednesday.
The second-year general manager likely will bob and weave during the media autopsy of a 2023 season that was left for dead several times before finally succumbing to terminal quarterbacking.
Perhaps Adofo-Mensah will trade subtleties with Kirk Cousins and sprinkle breadcrumbs about his biggest decision in a budding front office career – one that will shape his management legacy and impact this forlorn franchise for years.
Cousins, as always, framed a return to Minnesota on his terms as the Vikings emptied their lockers Monday after a deeply disappointing 7-10 season. If we take the pending free agent’s aw-shucks words at face value that may not mean leveraging every ounce of his bargaining brawn for maximum dollars.
But the Vikings will have to offer terms that allow Cousins and his free-market warriors with the NFL Players Association to save face by earning maximum value as a coveted commodity in a league that demands excellence from a short supply of bona fide quarterbacks.
Especially if he agrees to leave cash on the table to help Minnesota fortify a tattered defense that was exposed by offensive ineptitude after Cousins was lost for the season in Week 8.
I am all for Cousins and his brethren squeezing every nickel out of the ownership cartel that shakes down anyone who hitches their commercial and emotional wagon to The Shield. They are the ones sacrificing their body, minds and souls to entertain us all.
But Cousins only must consider his best interests. Adofo-Mensah must account for an annual 53-man roster and the competitive desires of Mark and Zygi Wilf.
The Wilfs hired Adofo-Mensah two years ago to break the mold of a traditional NFL general manager. How much autonomy will they grant him at this moment of truth?
Ivy Leaguers and Wall Street day traders do not pick low-hanging fruit like blindly re-signing Cousins and kicking the financial reckoning down the road again.
If Adofo-Mensah is going to work on the margin and re-invest in Cousins, it will require risky and creative accounting to maintain a playmaking roster on both sides of the ball. Moreover, it means boldly planning for life after the 35-year-old, surgically repaired veteran by using the No. 11 pick -- or dealing up the draft ladder -- to handpick Cousins’ worthy successor.
Cousins hailed such a decision as prudent management, but it’s all abstract in the offseason. Let’s see how Kirko Chainz reacts if the Vikings are straddling .500 in November and he throws three interceptions before checking down to a 5-yard screen pass on third-and-12 in the waning seconds of an upset loss at hostile U.S. Bank Stadium.
Having your underling’s name chanted by 65,000 fans bloodthirsty for the new guy will test anyone’s circumspection, even a whole milk junkie like Cousins. Besides, there are only so many nickels to go around under the salary cap.
The Vikings are about to escort wide receiver Justin Jefferson down the red carpet into their vault and reward the superstar wide receiver with his just desserts.
Left tackle Christian Darrisaw also is due a hefty raise. He and right tackle Brian O’Neill, who passionately lobbied for Cousins’ re-signing, are as vital cogs in Minnesota’s offensive engine as Jefferson, fellow receiver Jordan Addison and tight end T.J. Hockenson.
Meanwhile, defensive end Danielle Hunter has a jackpot waiting for him in March after recording another 16 ½ sacks on a below-market deal that has been simmering with faint tension for several years.
Whether or not coordinator Brian Flores returns for a second season will dictate the scale of the required overhaul on defense. Flores turned water into wine with his blitzing unit of hybrid and mostly underappreciated talent.
But as the quarterback carousel spun off Joshua Dobbs, Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall during a head-snapping, seven-week downfall, Flores ran out of answers as his defense ran out of gas and healthy bodies trying to compensate for incompetence.
The offense was plagued all season by turnovers, third-down failures and coach Kevin O’Connell’s stubborn insistence of retrofitting his mobile and underwhelming back-ups into a downfield passing attack designed for Cousins the proven pocket passer.
Adofo-Mensah will have to thread a delicate needle to sell Cousins not only on the Wilfs’ millions but a team vision for 2024 and beyond that will not come into focus before the crucial quarterback question is answered.
“I know my background is unique,” the new GM said after being hired in January 2022. “But when you think about this job, the job is about making decisions, building consensus in the building, combining different sources of information into one answer and having everybody behind it. Along those lines, I don’t think there’s many people more qualified than I am.”
Well … as Judge Smails taunted Danny Noonan standing over his birdie putt at the end of “Caddyshack” … we’re waiting.
“stubborn insistence of retrofitting his mobile and underwhelming back-ups into a downfield passing attack designed for Cousins the proven pocket passer.”
This^^^