What's on the Initial To-Do List for New Vikings GM Nolan Teasley?

Sometime soon, likely this week, the Vikings will officially introduce former Seahawks assistant GM Nolan Teasley as their new general manager in a press conference at TCO Performance Center. Then the work will begin.

The timing of this hire is atypical, with the Vikings waiting almost a month after the 2025 regular season to fire previous GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and then choosing to go the unorthodox route of handling the meat of the offseason without a replacement. That means Teasley's transition into the role will look different than it does when a GM is hired in January or February and immediately launches into preparation for the upcoming free agency period and draft.

But make no mistake, there will still be all kinds of things for Teasley to do, even with the vast majority of the roster-building portion of this offseason in the rearview mirror. And the optimistic way to look at the situation is that this could actually be beneficial for him, as it gives him a full season to evaluate things before his first March and April in the GM seat.

Here are a few major items that we imagine will be on Teasley's initial to-do list in Minnesota.

1. Determine his front office staff

One of the first items of business for Teasley will be to figure out who he's going to be working with in the Vikings' front office. We know that recent interim GM Rob Brzezinski, who was a candidate for the full-time role, will be returning to his previous duties as executive VP of football operations, where he serves as the team's salary cap guru and has significant influence in contract negotiations. Beyond that, just about anything could be on the table.

Alec Lewis of The Athletic noted on Saturday that "contracts of multiple Vikings executives were set to expire in the coming days." Teasley, along with Brzezinski and head coach Kevin O'Connell, will have to decide whether to renew those invididuals or let them depart. What does the future hold for assistant GMs Ryan Grigson and Demitrius Washington, for example? Both were hired when Adofo-Mensah landed the job in 2022. Teasley may want to bring in his own lieutenants in those roles — perhaps taking some trusted staffers with him from Seattle.

Other notable Vikings executives whose futures may be uncertain include director of player personnel Ryan Monnens and his lead assistant Chisom Opara, director of pro personnel Sam DeLuca, senior personnel executive Jamaal Stephenson, and director of college scouting Mike Sholiton. It seems unlikely that Teasley would come in and completely overhaul things, but some degree of change feels inevitable.

2. Build relationships

This is an impossible thing to quantify, but one of the most important tasks for Teasley over the course of this summer will simply be to build strong relationships with the other power figures in the organization.

The most important one will be with O'Connell, who in many ways is the football CEO of the Vikings. In addition to his duties as head coach, O'Connell serves as the main public spokesman for the franchise and has a sizable role in player evaluation and personnel decisions, which became even more pronounced in the months after Adofo-Mensah was let go. It should be noted that multiple prominent reports indicated Adofo-Mensah's firing was at least partially driven by his flawed relationships with people in the coaching staff or front office.

Kevin O'Connell | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Brian Flores and Brzezinski will also be important relationships for Teasley. Along with O'Connell, he'll look to get everyone in the organization — from coaches to personnel people to analytics staffers and beyond — on the same page in terms of their vision for the future.

3. Assess what can still be done with the 2026 roster

As we've mentioned, most of this year's roster-building work has already happened. The Vikings' 90-man roster stands at 89 players at the moment, plus an international exemption for a rookie punter. But that doesn't mean this year's team is already set in stone.

Teasley will soon begin diving into the roster he's inheriting and its strengths, weaknesses, and unknowns. After the Jauan Jennings signing a few weeks ago, there isn't currently much cap space for future additions. However, contract extensions or restructures exist as levers that can be pulled to create space. Brian O'Neill, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Blake Cashman are a few key players heading into the final season of their contract.

Are the Vikings content with Blake Brandel at center? Will they add a veteran edge rusher to replenish their depth after trading away Jonathan Greenard? Is there a safety out there who could provide stability in Flores' secondary, whether it's Harrison Smith or someone else?

Those are among the many roster-based questions Teasley will have to answer. But there's no need to rush into any decisions from a personnel standpoint. Evaluation will be the name of the game over his first few months, with June practices and then training camp serving as data points that can shape future moves.

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