INDIANAPOLIS — On the third floor of the JW Marriott in Indianapolis, Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah met with three beat reporters and discussed all of the factors that will determine the Vikings’ path — both on a micro and macro level. Second-year GMs and coaches don’t get as much attention as new ones. Wander over to the Denver Broncos’ section and you’ll find 22 media members following Sean Payton around. But that doesn’t mean the questions about the Vikings’ plan are less consequential than they were at the 2022 Combine.
How are they viewing a complex quarterback situation? How does Justin Jefferson fit into the decision-making process? Is it a foregone conclusion that veteran stars will not be back?
All of those questions tie into the bigger theme of how (and when) Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell will ultimately make this team their own.
Three hundred and sixty five days ago, Adofo-Mensah had just adopted a QB who needed an extension or trade, numerous players who needed their contracts addressed, a fairly high draft pick in the first round and an ownership that wanted to see if a new GM could get them back to the playoffs by mostly running it back with a few new pieces and better vibes. Things were so intense after he got hired that when Adofo-Mensah reflected on it this year, he couldn’t even remember if he flew to the Combine in 2022.
“Last year was such a whirlwind,” he said. “So many things were happening, flying around, if I was on that flight, I was probably doing 80 different things at once and didn’t realize it.”
This time he arrived in Indy feeling quite different. More well rested, for one. But also feeling a sense of ownership of the Vikings after a year in the GM seat that featured everything from crazy wins to crushing defeats. It hit him hard after the playoff loss to the Giants when he was walking behind fans and listening to them talk about being let down.
“I’ve kind of taken on the history of the organization with me now,” Adofo-Mensah said.
While there are options to take that history in whatever direction they choose, that choice won’t be determined here in Indy. As hectic as it might have been at the start, Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell didn’t just devise one-year plan to fix the team in the wake of Zimmer-Spielman. They had an outline for several years into the future by last year’s pre-draft events.
“You don’t just show up the next year and be like, ‘New problems.’ That’s not really—I don’t believe that’s how you should do the job, so I will say a lot of things that are part of our plan this offseason, we kind of saw coming, and some of the moves we made were to be prepared for that,” Adofo-Mensah said.
However, that plan needs to be updated and adapted based on the results of last season. They probably didn’t foresee winning 13 games right off the bat, no matter how optimistic the projection.
“You’re always updating information,” Adofo-Mensah said. “Some of those young players you got to see up close, some of those veterans you got to see up close. Where are they now? How do I update my beliefs and see where that’s going to take us for the next year, two years, three years. What’s our division look like? What’s the NFC look like? What’s the whole picture look like and go from there.”
In the updated version, where does Kirk Cousins stand?
Adofo-Mensah described Cousins as a QB who meets the threshold for winning in the NFL and noted that not everybody has that. But he didn’t slam the door on speculation that a separation in the near future was possible. Instead he acknowledged the differences in viewpoint between the team and the player/representation.
“From their side, they want it as certain as possible, and from our side, we want flexibility,” Adofo-Mensah said. “You’re always trying to be solutions-oriented and find a way that works for both people.”
He doesn’t want any schisms to speak of.
“When you talk about alignment between the head coach and GM, it’s that third part, I treat [the quarterback] on my level,” Adofo-Mensah said. “I don’t care if that makes me sound whatever, but [the quarterback] has as much importance to this organization and maybe more than I do, so we all have to be on the same page and make sure that relationship works.”
But…what if it doesn’t work for both people? What if you aren’t all on the same page?
“If the solutions don’t work out for either side, that is what it is, but we love what we’ve done so far with him and we obviously want to continue it,” Adofo-Mensah said.
The GM’s comments did not dispel a report from NFL Network that Cousins isn’t interested in a short-term extension.
From Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell’s perspective, it’s hard to see them tying to themselves to a 35-year-old quarterback long term and resting their jobs on whether he continues to play at a high level into the danger zone of the quarterback age curve.
“How they’re playing, age, availability, all of those things, a lot of different variables,” Adofo-Mensah said of the factors that would weigh into the QB decision. “I wish I could sit and predict the future with perfect clarity. I can’t, but we try and make steps to forecast with a high probability what we think the outcome will be, and really in the NFL, you can’t look beyond two years. You’re lying to yourself if you think you can plan longer than that.”
What about the idea of a developmental quarterback? NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah floated the concept in his pre-Combine conference call for the Vikings.
“That relationship [with the quarterback] is so important that you don’t want to just be firing random darts at a quarterback,” Adofo-Mensah said. “You want to be selective in finding opportunities you think to help yourselves with depth that potentially could be more in the future.”
Most of the time quarterbacks are the only players who get looped into the organization’s decisions and given the opportunity for input. But in this case, Justin Jefferson is so valuable to the organization that his voice matters as well.
“For certain, he’s someone we’ll keep in all of our conversations,” Adofo-Mensah said, calling Jefferson a “unique player” in that regard.
We do not know how Jefferson feels about the Vikings’ direction at quarterback but if he chooses to sign a long-term extension this offseason, he’s very likely to play with a different QB at some point. It appears that his comfort level with who/when that is will matter.
Where they stand in building the roster around JJ and a quarterback matters too. The Vikings haven numerous veterans who need decisions made this offseason. Adofo-Mensah shouted out Dalvin Tomlinson, set to become a free agent on March 15, making it clear that he’d like the big nose tackle to return. What about the others? Za’Darius Smith, Danielle Hunter, Harrison Smith, Adam Thielen, Dalvin Cook?
“It’s positional value, it’s value in the locker room, it’s relative replacements,” Adofo-Mensah said of the things they will consider with veterans. “It’s easy to say ‘We don’t want this player, but what else do you have in your building?’ You can guess and I think that’s where you can get yourself into problems in this job is thinking you will be certain on something — the draft or even free agency at that, there is risk involved. You always just want to weight those things carefully and it’s tough.”
The Vikings’ GM added that it’s important to him that veteran players know of his respect and admiration for them, even if things don’t work out to remain together. He understands the delicate locker room dynamic of letting proven players walk.
And then he dropped an interesting nugget about tanking.
“People always talk about, ‘Just tank,’ and in this sport, I think it’s kind of unconscionable to do it for what these players put on the line for our sport,” he said.
Part of the trouble with replacing veterans is that the Vikings are lacking in draft capital with only two top-100 picks. Last year Adofo-Mensah traded back in the first round, a move that was debated among fans of different draft-value charts. Will he move back from No. 23 this time around or stay there in hopes of grabbing the best player available?
“It’s really draft dependent,” Adofo-Mensah said. “Every draft you kind of look at the top, the middle and see where you want to be on the board and then how that fits with your time horizon. But there is no exact science, I wish there was.”
Adofo-Mensah acknowledged at the podium that the inexact science of drafting is often what determines the fate of general managers. Rick Spielman, ironically, was sitting across the room working with CBS Sports.
Assuming a quarterback isn’t on the table, the Vikings are projected by most to draft on the defensive side. Brian Flores, in attendance in Indy, will be leaned upon to shape the defense.
“He’s also really open-minded,” Adofo-Mensah said. “We talk a lot about glass being half full, so when you watch players, it’s not just picking apart what they can’t do; it’s what can they do? How do we hide the stuff that maybe they don’t do so well, or even develop it? He is so of that mind. He loves to mold and fit his defense to the personnel and scheme.”
As far as time horizons go, the team’s desire to bring back Tomlinson suggests that they aren’t going to focus solely on the development of young players in 2023 but Adofo-Mensah said part of the analysis is based on what parts of the Flores defense drive success and where he can live with some weaknesses.
All said, it feels like the Vikings’ GM knows they have no choice but to put one foot in a win-now bucket and the other in a rebuild bucket. Aim for flexibility at QB but keep Cousins. Sign Jefferson long term. Put out a competitive defense where some young players get their chance and others wait in the wings. Move on from some veterans whose contracts don’t match up with perception and make plans for their ring of honor ceremonies in a few years.
Those things track with a “competitive rebuild” team. But the NFL is filled with GMs who carry out the wishes of their owners. When Adofo-Mensah was scrambling to get his feet underneath him last spring, ownership was deciding they wanted to make a big swing — one that largely turned into a hit but not a home run.
Where do they stand this time around now that they have worked with Adofo-Mensah for a year? The GM mentioned his experiences in getting to know the Wilfs and their background. He told a story about looking up at the roof with Zygi Wilf and explaining the vision behind the design.
“When I’m listening to [the Wilfs], I get the advice from people who are really successful with what they do in terms of long term planning and vision and investment space,” Adofo-Mensah said. “I try to use them as a resource, but our communication is on going and I want to make sure we’re always aligned. I think at the end of the day, it’s my job to set their expectations.”
When it comes to the expectations, are the key words there, “long term” and “investment?”
We will find out in the coming weeks. Maybe Adofo-Mensah will remember this flight to the Combine as the one he took before making the Vikings truly his team.
