What new Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah needs to know as he starts the job

As the Vikings take a new path, thoughts on the approach that could make the next GM a success

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By Matthew Coller and Sam Ekstrom

The Minnesota Vikings made it official on Wednesday night: Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is their new general manager. He takes over a franchise that is desperate for a breath of fresh air and a roster that needs a face lift. Following our years of covering the last group of decision makers, there’s a few things Adofo-Mensah could take from the errors of their ways in order to avoid the same results. On the first day of his tenure, here’s what we would write in a letter left in the last GM’s desk…

Matthew’s Advice

There are no sacred cows

The roster that Adofo-Mensah is inheriting has some pretty special players. It has Pro Bowlers, record setters and guys who have remarkable background stories of overcoming the odds to become key pieces to successful teams of past years. Fans have these players’ jerseys. Ownership loves them. People on the scouting staff are responsible for finding them. The previous regime rewarded them for their excellence with lucrative contracts. As icy as it may seem, at this moment all of that needs to mean nothing.

It isn’t Danielle Hunter or Adam Thielen or Dalvin Cook’s fault that the Vikings went 7-9 and 8-9 in the last two seasons but they are at the center of the team’s cap problems. Adofo-Mensah is taking over a team that is $13 million over the cap (per OverTheCap.com) and not all of that can be solved with a Kirk Cousins trade. Not all of that should be solved the way that the old regime did it either, which was by kicking money down the road with restructures and extensions. Remember: No matter how brilliant your capologist, the bill always comes due eventually. Hard decisions need to be made and the Vikings’ new-look front office should not be afraid to make them just because a player is widely loved.

The previous brass often treated popular players like they couldn’t live without them. They gave extensions to Kyle Rudolph and Anthony Barr while more valuable positions and key depth spots were left to suffer. They extended Cook before the 2020 season and it didn’t change their fate. They franchise tagged Anthony Harris and wasted valuable cap space that could have been used elsewhere. By the numbers, those moves were inefficient and they paid for them in the standings.

Something that Bill Belichick isn’t credited enough for over his wildly successful tenure in New England is his approach to paying players. He let guys like Richard Seymour, Chandler Jones, Jamie Collins and Trey Flowers walk even though they had been key pieces to championship defenses. Everyone says, “it’s a business.” Not everyone is calculated enough to stick with that mentality.

With a clean slate, Adofo-Mensah can treat it that way. Does that mean they should get rid of all the good players? Of course not. It means that nobody is above being sent packing if it’s the prudent move to make.

Don’t try to reinvent the wheel

One area where NFL broadcasts have done no favors is in explaining the use of analytics. Every time somebody goes for it on fourth down, the color analyst yells out that this must be analytics, as if no coach every went for a fourth down before the nerds invaded. What an analytical approach generally means is making decisions based on research. So the research says there’s a few more fourth downs per year that should be attempted and now coaches are getting better at seeing those situations. But this doesn’t mean that coaches should be going for fourth down every single time.

In the same way that the Phoenix Suns still hit mid-range jumpers, some baseball teams can still steal bases and the 49ers ran the ball on third down to beat the Packers, Adofo-Mensah’s front office shouldn’t stray too far from conventional thinking. There’s a theory in fashion that Avant Gard can be brilliant but it’s always one step away from just looking ridiculous.

A couple examples: Play-action works. But if you use play-action every play, the defense will stop biting on run plays. Trading down in the draft is often good. Trading down from potentially good picks to get more seventh rounders does nothing.

Don’t pass up a great prospect because his arms aren’t long enough.

Building a great team has always been a matter of putting together the most good players you can have at once and having them fit with a scheme. It can be easy to lose sight of the simple things when always trying to chase the numbers.

Pick a path, share a vision and fans will give you time

I’m sure everyone knows Vikings fans in their life who have crazed opinions but here’s a stat that is telling about the fan base: Vikings fans make up one of the largest groups of Pro Football Focus subscribers. You all might not love everything PFF produces but that tells you about the mindset of the fanbase at large. They are informed and see the bigger picture. This franchise has often haphazardly made moves in desperate attempts to go “all in” and fallen short repeatedly. While nobody wants a 10-year rebuild, there will be patience and appreciation for the front office picking the right path and going that way.

Again, that doesn’t mean they have to tank but “The Process” Philadelphia 76ers are a perennial contender. The Cleveland Browns are now a disappointment if they come one game short of the playoffs rather than overachieving because they methodically worked to build a strong roster that is expected to win. There are no shortcuts, even if you draft the right quarterback. And Vikings fans will come along for the ride so long as its only goal is to win the Super Bowl.

It’s worth noting that process teams have failures. The 76ers had draft picks flop. The edge in football is getting one more decision right than your competitors, not assuming you’ll be right all the time and then chasing the last misstep. Take that approach and the fans will give you time and it will have a better chance of long-term success.