The Good, Bad, and Ugly From Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's Tenure as Vikings GM

Adofo-Mensah made some good moves, but those were largely overshadowed by the misses.

Nov 24, 2022; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah looks on before the game against the New England Patriots at U.S. Bank Stadium. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's four-year tenure as general manager of the Minnesota Vikings has come to an end. His firing, which was announced by the team on Friday, was fascinating from a timing standpoint but not entirely surprising in a vacuum. While Adofo-Mensah made some good moves in Minnesota, those were largely overshadowed by his struggles in the draft and his mishandling of the team's quarterback situation last offseason.

As the Vikings move forward into a new era, let's take a look back at the good, the bad, and the ugly from Adofo-Mensah's GM tenure (January 26, 2022-January 30, 2026).

The Good: Free agency and a few draft picks

To suggest that Adofo-Mensah was incompetent as a GM or did nothing good during his tenure would be flat-out untrue. Kevin O'Connell doesn't get all of the credit for the Vikings going 43-25 over the past four seasons (albeit without any playoff wins). Sure, Adofo-Mensah inherited a roster with plenty of talent, but he also supplemented the core — particularly in free agency.

The highlight of his tenure is the Vikings' 2024 free agent class. That was the year they brought in Sam Darnold, Andrew Van Ginkel, Jonathan Greenard, Blake Cashman, and Aaron Jones. All five of those players were instrumental in the team going 14-3 that fall. The three defenders remain core pieces of the roster moving forward.

Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Other solid additions in free agency under Adofo-Mensah include Harrison Phillips, Jordan Hicks, and Za'Darius Smith in 2022, plus Byron Murphy Jr. and Josh Oliver in 2023. Last year's haul (Jonathan Allen, Javon Hargrave, Will Fries, Ryan Kelly, Isaiah Rodgers) was less impressive in year one, but there's still time for some of those players to turn it around in Minnesota.

The draft, which we'll talk about shortly, was not nearly as successful for Adofo-Mensah. But there were some hits, especially in the first round. Jordan Addison has been a very productive No. 2 receiver on the field (though his off-the-field issues are less than ideal). Dallas Turner appears to have a bright future after a strong finish to last season. Donovan Jackson also looks promising, and the book isn't closed on J.J. McCarthy after 10 starts. Outside of the first round, kicker Will Reichard has been a major hit and wide receiver Jalen Nailor clearly out-performed his sixth-round draft slot.

The Bad: Everything else in the draft

The issue for Adofo-Mensah is that outside of Reichard and Nailor, it's hard to find a single quality pick to point to in rounds two through seven over the past four years. The best options in that group are probably Ty Chandler and Levi Drake Rodriguez, which is bleak. When you're talking about 23 picks after the first round and two clear hits, that's an abysmal success rate.

It all started with Adofo-Mensah's first draft in 2022, which went about as poorly as it possibly could've. Holding the 12th pick, he chose to pass on players like Kyle Hamilton and Trent McDuffie in order to trade down to 32nd in a deal with the Lions. The pick there was Lewis Cine, who got hurt as a rookie and never started a game for the Vikings. Andrew Booth Jr., Ed Ingram, Brian Asamoah, and Akayleb Evans didn't pan out either. Top have five picks in the top 120 of a draft and go 0 for 5 is legitimately a major reason why the Vikings are in the position they're currently in.

Lewis Cine | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

In total, Adofo-Mensah drafted 28 players over four years. None of them have made a Pro Bowl. Maybe Addison or Turner or Reichard or Jackson will change that, but right now, that's a pretty damning statistic. His drafts simply didn't go well enough to justify allowing him to lead another draft in 2026.

A few free agent whiffs (Hargrave, Allen, Marcus Davenport) and a big trade for T.J. Hockenson that hasn't aged super well are also marks against Adofo-Mensah. One thing worth noting is that the Vikings' current salary cap situation, which some have pointed to as a data point behind the firing, isn't actually an issue. That can (and will) be addressed pretty straightforwardly by Brzezinski with a few accounting moves.

The Ugly: The 2025 quarterback decision(s)

Vikings owner Mark Wilf said in a press conference on Friday that this decision was not about one move, but rather the culmination of data over the course of four years. Then again, it has to have a lot to do with what's played out since ownership signed off on a contract extension for Adofo-Mensah last May. And it's hard not to think about the timing of this move coming a handful of days after Darnold led the Seahawks to a victory in the NFC Championship Game.

Perhaps even more than his track record in the draft, it feels like the handling of last offseason's quarterback situation is what cost Adofo-Mensah his job. The Vikings had Darnold in the building, could've franchise-tagged him, and instead let him walk. To be clear, that's a decision that I personally thought was the right one, given the way Darnold's 2024 season ended. But I'm an opinion-giver who gets to be wrong. The people making the decisions are the ones who deal with the outcomes.

Sam Darnold | Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

And it's not just that Darnold left. It's that the Vikings thought they were going to be able to re-sign Daniel Jones, only to be spurned as he signed with the Colts. Adofo-Mensah admitted earlier this month that they could've handled that situation better. It's also that they chose not to sign Aaron Rodgers or come up with some sort of better insurance plan if McCarthy struggled. Trading for Sam Howell, only to pivot and sign Carson Wentz shortly before the season, was not good enough.

McCarthy clearly wasn't ready to go this season. His numbers, even after a solid finish to his season, were awful. He also continued to struggle with injuries, and the Vikings didn't have a capable backup plan. Wentz was up-and-down and then got hurt. Max Brosmer, who Adofo-Mensah hyped up, was incomprehensibly bad when thrust into action. Quarterback play was by far the main reason why a once-promising 2025 season saw the Vikings effectively eliminated from the playoffs before November was over.

Overall, Adofo-Mensah's GM tenure was a mixed bag with more bad than good. And with no playoff wins in four years, few young players to build around, and no clarity at quarterback, Vikings ownership was absolutely justified in feeling like a change was needed.

---