With the “culture of collaboration” bit they had going on, and a lot of the players they acquired clearly being guys that Flores or KOC had identified (Addison, Gink, Cashman, Rodgers, etc.), I just really have a hard time believing that KOC was not on board with moving on to JJ. And KOC is equally at fault on the Jones thing if he thought they could count on that before the ink was dry. The drafts were awful, but the roster was in good shape for the most part. It all comes down to JJ, and that’s probably more on KOC than anybody else.
All we heard when the drafted a QB was that the decision on when McCarthy would play was 100% KOC's call. So I've long felt like you do about JJ being on KOC more than Kwesi.
This whole thing just doesn't really sit right. If Kwesi had lost so much influence that Rob could make the Thielen trade without him, I have a hard time believing KOC didn't get to make the final decision about moving on to JJ. And the rest of the roster was very good besides that position.
Maybe he was really just the odd man out in the building and the one everyone felt comfortable pointing a finger at when things went sideways. End of the day, if he doesn't get the final say on trades and other roster decisions, there isn't much point keeping him around.
I know that Brzezinski is fantastic at what he does, but would he be good as a GM? The first thing that stood out to me from this article was the Thielen acquisition. I remember all the debate over that decision and purchase price, whether it was something they should have done or if they overpaid. If KAM was hesitant but everyone else pushed it, I do wonder at their judgment.
Sounds like there are a lot of factors at play. Football guys versus non-football guys, lots of bad luck, sketchy judgment calls, and a general lack of experience on KAMs end.
You need a fall guy for the season and when one guy does not have the trust of a lot of people easy to ax him
Basically they are kind of stuck (too good to get a top qb in the 2027 draft, too bad to win big unless JJ really improves or you get a decent qb). Hard to do a reset at this point so it is ride or die with KOC
And even if not his fault, yuu need a real GM at some point (instead of it being 100% the coaches call on players)
With the Vikings moving on from Kwesi it feels like it gets easier to reset the narrative—and potentially move off JJ McC sooner than later. But KOC has publicly said that organizations fail young quarterbacks more than young quarterbacks fail organizations—and that development requires real infrastructure: a plan, support, and accountability.
So isn’t there a responsibility on the head coach—who was clearly part of the QB direction—to be fully committed to that plan for a full-season runway? And if it doesn’t work with the structure in place, shouldn’t that reflect on the coaching identity and ‘QB-whisperer’ reputation as much as the quarterback himself? KOC I think needs to walk his talk. JJ is either going to be the quarterback of the future or JJ and KOC have to hit the pavement. Both of their futures are tied together. Thoughts, Matt?
Thank you for having the least inflammatory coverage of this that treats this like a human story and not some WWE promo or John Grisham conspiracy court drama.
Just like JJ, Kwesi's inexperience seemed to outshine his influence, and we're left with some mixed results. Lots of high highs and some devastating lows, and kinda of an aimless shrug by the end. I also believe the process we love to talk about was mostly sound for their objective. Ninety percent of their moves, I totally get, which is why I've been pretty even keeled about the results, disappointed rather than upset. I even think the Vikings would be fine keeping Kwesi. It's not like he single handedly imploded the franchise like past staff.
But if you're thinking about ending things you should just do it. So clearly time to move on. I give credit to the Wilfs in this regard for letting him go before it truly soured like the previous regime.
Really nice article! Oh how much I would like to have listened to the Darnold conversations last offseason. It'll be interesting to see if we hear any conflicting reports through the media in the coming weeks / months...probably not. But I'm here for it!
I do like what you brought up Matthew in the live show yesterday about the dynamic of really leaving the old guard scouting team in place and questioning to what level Kwesi was able to bring "his people' into the fold. Kind of feels like it was Kwesi with Spielman's old crew and you have to question how many there were willing to buy in from the very beginning.
I listened to your podcast and one other (maybe Skor North) and a couple of thoughts
1. Clearly he was the Rodney Dangerfield GM in Minnesota. Nobody seemed to respect him.
2. Theilen was an over pay (I did not see why did not pick up Renfrow for free (draft capital wise)
the question was... was he forced to overpay by the coaches/Wilfs?
3. This is clearly set up so that 2026 is on KOC. The new GM will have nothing to do with main FA/dealing with the salary cap/the draft...
4. Got to think this is not good for JJ starting next year... The noose is around KOC`s neck and he has next year to escape or the trap door opens.
6. I remember an old podcast of yours where you mentioned if JJ hits, it does not matter what other draft picks hit and if he misses it does not matter who else hits..... Ouch!
7. I remember the trade down from 12 and hating it because maybe advance chartss showed a small gain but most showed a loss. For young, first time GM, doing a trade down that at best was a push made him stand out as a mark (though admittedly his 2nd trade with GB actually provided good theorectical value even if he blew the picks (hated the Ingram pick because he was a 3rd talent with a scandal so you probably could have gotten him in the 4th round.
8. Your point today of he did not do as much "analytical" stuff as expected makes sense (like last year picking Donovan Jackson with the first instead of getting a juicy trade down (that said, the result might end up very good).
9. There is going to be a lot of crap on how he messed up and much we will never know and some of it will be unfair (like blaming him for not getting Drake Maye)
10. On the Drake Maye non deal, I do doink him for the trade with Houston to get the 1st round pick. Everybody (GMS) can do the basic math and he overpaid for it. Why not wait until you have a deal to move up (to get the QBOTF) and overpay then. No need to overpay before a deal is in place.
No. 10 is really hard to fathom. There is a long, established practice of GMs laying the groundwork for trades and then pulling the trigger on draft day, when the other party is on the clock.
Making the first trade when there was no second trade in place was both inexplicable and grossly incompetent.
Had we picked up the first for "fair value" I would have understood. But it was a gross overpay at the time. So I agree.. Grossly incompetent.
He overpaid to go up then but got severely underpaid to go from 12 to 32... Analytics are only useful if you actually do it better than some schmuck like me behind a keyboard
I love this take, and I'm not being sarcastic. Media is definitely in "dump on Kwesi mode". I'm sure much of it is accurate and fair, but it's only one side.
Gutekunts sold the farm to get Parsons and he has recently had his contract extended. I guess GM's who take big chances are rewarded. I really don't under stand any of this.
The Wilf’s disappointment in last season finally became evident yesterday. They share part of the blame. I believe the draft is overrated, the scouting department in my opinion should be the taking the blame for poor draft performance. What do I know?
With the “culture of collaboration” bit they had going on, and a lot of the players they acquired clearly being guys that Flores or KOC had identified (Addison, Gink, Cashman, Rodgers, etc.), I just really have a hard time believing that KOC was not on board with moving on to JJ. And KOC is equally at fault on the Jones thing if he thought they could count on that before the ink was dry. The drafts were awful, but the roster was in good shape for the most part. It all comes down to JJ, and that’s probably more on KOC than anybody else.
All we heard when the drafted a QB was that the decision on when McCarthy would play was 100% KOC's call. So I've long felt like you do about JJ being on KOC more than Kwesi.
This whole thing just doesn't really sit right. If Kwesi had lost so much influence that Rob could make the Thielen trade without him, I have a hard time believing KOC didn't get to make the final decision about moving on to JJ. And the rest of the roster was very good besides that position.
Maybe he was really just the odd man out in the building and the one everyone felt comfortable pointing a finger at when things went sideways. End of the day, if he doesn't get the final say on trades and other roster decisions, there isn't much point keeping him around.
I know that Brzezinski is fantastic at what he does, but would he be good as a GM? The first thing that stood out to me from this article was the Thielen acquisition. I remember all the debate over that decision and purchase price, whether it was something they should have done or if they overpaid. If KAM was hesitant but everyone else pushed it, I do wonder at their judgment.
Sounds like there are a lot of factors at play. Football guys versus non-football guys, lots of bad luck, sketchy judgment calls, and a general lack of experience on KAMs end.
You need a fall guy for the season and when one guy does not have the trust of a lot of people easy to ax him
Basically they are kind of stuck (too good to get a top qb in the 2027 draft, too bad to win big unless JJ really improves or you get a decent qb). Hard to do a reset at this point so it is ride or die with KOC
And even if not his fault, yuu need a real GM at some point (instead of it being 100% the coaches call on players)
Should have had a fall guy
You wonder how many of the "I thought Kwesi was an analytics GM??" moves were just him getting overruled.
Rick Spielman would’ve drafted Hamilton, that much I know. Of course he would’ve re-signed Kirk Cousins, too, so, ya know.
With the Vikings moving on from Kwesi it feels like it gets easier to reset the narrative—and potentially move off JJ McC sooner than later. But KOC has publicly said that organizations fail young quarterbacks more than young quarterbacks fail organizations—and that development requires real infrastructure: a plan, support, and accountability.
So isn’t there a responsibility on the head coach—who was clearly part of the QB direction—to be fully committed to that plan for a full-season runway? And if it doesn’t work with the structure in place, shouldn’t that reflect on the coaching identity and ‘QB-whisperer’ reputation as much as the quarterback himself? KOC I think needs to walk his talk. JJ is either going to be the quarterback of the future or JJ and KOC have to hit the pavement. Both of their futures are tied together. Thoughts, Matt?
Thank you for having the least inflammatory coverage of this that treats this like a human story and not some WWE promo or John Grisham conspiracy court drama.
Just like JJ, Kwesi's inexperience seemed to outshine his influence, and we're left with some mixed results. Lots of high highs and some devastating lows, and kinda of an aimless shrug by the end. I also believe the process we love to talk about was mostly sound for their objective. Ninety percent of their moves, I totally get, which is why I've been pretty even keeled about the results, disappointed rather than upset. I even think the Vikings would be fine keeping Kwesi. It's not like he single handedly imploded the franchise like past staff.
But if you're thinking about ending things you should just do it. So clearly time to move on. I give credit to the Wilfs in this regard for letting him go before it truly soured like the previous regime.
I agree with you. Kwesi did some good. And we do have a decent to very good roster.. But the game now is the qb.... And there was a mega whiff there
Really nice article! Oh how much I would like to have listened to the Darnold conversations last offseason. It'll be interesting to see if we hear any conflicting reports through the media in the coming weeks / months...probably not. But I'm here for it!
I do like what you brought up Matthew in the live show yesterday about the dynamic of really leaving the old guard scouting team in place and questioning to what level Kwesi was able to bring "his people' into the fold. Kind of feels like it was Kwesi with Spielman's old crew and you have to question how many there were willing to buy in from the very beginning.
Reminds me of the scenes from MoneyBall with the scouts thinking he's crazy
I listened to your podcast and one other (maybe Skor North) and a couple of thoughts
1. Clearly he was the Rodney Dangerfield GM in Minnesota. Nobody seemed to respect him.
2. Theilen was an over pay (I did not see why did not pick up Renfrow for free (draft capital wise)
the question was... was he forced to overpay by the coaches/Wilfs?
3. This is clearly set up so that 2026 is on KOC. The new GM will have nothing to do with main FA/dealing with the salary cap/the draft...
4. Got to think this is not good for JJ starting next year... The noose is around KOC`s neck and he has next year to escape or the trap door opens.
6. I remember an old podcast of yours where you mentioned if JJ hits, it does not matter what other draft picks hit and if he misses it does not matter who else hits..... Ouch!
7. I remember the trade down from 12 and hating it because maybe advance chartss showed a small gain but most showed a loss. For young, first time GM, doing a trade down that at best was a push made him stand out as a mark (though admittedly his 2nd trade with GB actually provided good theorectical value even if he blew the picks (hated the Ingram pick because he was a 3rd talent with a scandal so you probably could have gotten him in the 4th round.
8. Your point today of he did not do as much "analytical" stuff as expected makes sense (like last year picking Donovan Jackson with the first instead of getting a juicy trade down (that said, the result might end up very good).
9. There is going to be a lot of crap on how he messed up and much we will never know and some of it will be unfair (like blaming him for not getting Drake Maye)
10. On the Drake Maye non deal, I do doink him for the trade with Houston to get the 1st round pick. Everybody (GMS) can do the basic math and he overpaid for it. Why not wait until you have a deal to move up (to get the QBOTF) and overpay then. No need to overpay before a deal is in place.
No. 10 is really hard to fathom. There is a long, established practice of GMs laying the groundwork for trades and then pulling the trigger on draft day, when the other party is on the clock.
Making the first trade when there was no second trade in place was both inexplicable and grossly incompetent.
Had we picked up the first for "fair value" I would have understood. But it was a gross overpay at the time. So I agree.. Grossly incompetent.
He overpaid to go up then but got severely underpaid to go from 12 to 32... Analytics are only useful if you actually do it better than some schmuck like me behind a keyboard
I'm not sure what to think.
I love this take, and I'm not being sarcastic. Media is definitely in "dump on Kwesi mode". I'm sure much of it is accurate and fair, but it's only one side.
This is the type of “inside” stuff I came for. Nice article.
I would love to be a mouse in the corner at a NFL GM meeting… what did they think about KAM?
Gutekunts sold the farm to get Parsons and he has recently had his contract extended. I guess GM's who take big chances are rewarded. I really don't under stand any of this.
The Wilf’s disappointment in last season finally became evident yesterday. They share part of the blame. I believe the draft is overrated, the scouting department in my opinion should be the taking the blame for poor draft performance. What do I know?