Reaction: Kwesi Adofo-Mensah signs multi-year extension

The Vikings GM has brought the Vikings to the point where they have one of the strongest rosters in the NFL

Photo courtesy Minnesota Vikings

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By Matthew Coller

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah needed a contract extension because his time as Minnesota Vikings general manager will be defined by what comes next.

When the Vikings hired Adofo-Mensah in 2022, the team was in a rough spot. They had peaked as a roster in 2019 with a playoff win over the New Orleans Saints and spent the following two seasons sliding down a slippery mountain, scratching and clawing to stay relevant as reality set in that they missed their window to win with Kirk Cousins. The team had too many holes to be a Super Bowl contender and the salary cap was in peril. Calling the culture “toxic” might be being Minnesota nice.

Normally GMs in such positions will begin a full-rebuild process. They will tear it all down, trade or cut everyone who isn’t part of the long-term future, hoard draft picks and make plans for big free agent spending down the road. We saw that from two other NFC North GMs in Brad Holmes with the Lions and Ryan Poles in Chicago. But Adofo-Mensah wasn’t in a position to do that. The Wilf ownership believed that better coaching and an improved culture could get them back into legitimate contention quickly and that they could rebuild on the fly rather than sinking to the bottom.

It turned out that the Wilfs’ plan was a good one and that Adofo-Mensah was able to accomplish that goal, so in hindsight we can see that it was the right call. At the time, it appeared somewhat dubious. Research (that Adofo-Mensah even cited himself in a press conference) has shown that it is harder to go from the middle to the top than from the bottom to the top. Even teams that are touted as consistent contenders like the Eagles and 49ers had rebuild years where they drafted Nick Bosa or Jalen Carter in the top 10.

The Vikings were able to thread the needle because they stayed the course with the “competitive rebuild” plan rather than getting off track because of single-season results.

When Adofo-Mensah was hired, we assumed his super power was going to be analytics. That he was going to use some freaky number magic to hack the league and tun circles around the dinosaurs of the NFL. The problem with that is 90% of the league has adopted a lot of the concepts that got Adofo-Mensah ahead when he was rising up the ranks in San Francisco. His edge has actually been the ability to evaluate the results properly and stick with the 30,000-foot plan for roster construction. Rather than reacting to 13-wins by giving out big extensions to Kirk Cousins, Adam Thielen, Dalvin Cook, Patrick Peterson and Dalvin Tomlinson, they saw 2022 for what it was: A really fun, fluky season that proved O’Connell knew how to command a locker room and empower a quarterback. A season built on comeback wins was not evidence that they should run it back, so they kept moving in the direction that was plotted out from the start.

Those few months between the end of 2022 and the start of 2023 were evidence that they were working toward something bigger. When KIRK COUSINS DECISION 2024 arrived, those who were following the Vikings closely were sure that they were going to move on and draft a quarterback because the certainty of having a high floor is not as attractive to Adofo-Mensah as the possibility of having a high ceiling.

By moving on from Cousins, they were able to create cap space to be major players in free agency in 2024. Knowing that they were going to be cap healthy in 2025, the Vikings signed long-term pieces in Andrew Van Ginkel, Jonathan Greenard and Blake Cashman.

The stay-the-course ideology was tested again this offseason after winning 14 games with Sam Darnold. They could have franchise tagged Darnold and guaranteed themselves a certain level of QB play while sacrificing other areas on the roster. Keeping him would have given them a higher floor and very likely a lower ceiling.

Again, they chose the higher ceiling by moving onto 10th overall pick JJ McCarthy. Another bold move. Good luck finding other examples in NFL history of teams moving on from 14-win, 35-touchdown quarterbacks.

But the philosophy of building around a young QB has worked around the NFL since the 2011 CBA was put in place setting a rookie wage scale. Even if they didn’t follow the tank rebuild plan, they still landed on a road that has been traveled all the way into February by teams like the 49ers and Eagles.

Now the Vikings have arrived at the shores of a Super Bowl window. Getting there with a 13 and 14-win season in the bank already is impressive if not unprecedented without an elite QB. But maybe you have heard this before along the way: The NFL is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league. What comes next will define Adofo-Mensah’s tenure.

All the best laid plans and sensible decisions that got the Vikings here won’t mean anything without results in Part 2 of the KAM/KOC era. If they are able to make deep playoff runs in the coming years, we will look back at the “competitive rebuild” as an act of brilliance. If it doesn’t work, it will be another era of well-meaning, not-quite-enough seasons that have plagued the franchise for decades. In evaluating the GM’s ability, we should always focus on the process but they only hang banners for results.

The Vikings have made some very interesting bets. McCarthy, 22, is being tasked with taking over a team that is expected to play into late January. His teammates are veterans who feel that this team is very close to championship contention and some of them like Harrison Smith and Brian O’Neill understand that there are only so many more years left of their careers to play for a ring. Bringing in veterans, many with recent injury histories, carries risk along with it. Few things are a better predictor of playoff success than health. And, signing 30+ players might tighten the window to only a couple years before competitive rebuilding has to happen again.

Of course, having that type of pressure to win now going into 2025 means it is working. That makes it an energetic time for Vikings fans. It’s probably the most exciting position they have been in since walking off the field in Philadelphia in 2017. Giving Adofo-Mensah the opportunity continue on this course and see where the results will take them is the right call.

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