Don’t Count on a Vikings “Tank” as Long as Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is GM
Following his press conference with media members at the NFL scouting combine, Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah sat down with Vikings beat writers to discuss the future of the franchise during his tenure as the general manager.
You can find a full article by Mathew Coller of Purple Insider here. It is worth a read and chock-full of great details from the sit down with the second-year Vikings GM, including thoughts on the quarterback position as well as his thought process towards approaching the draft and free agency. However, one of my main takeaways from Adofo-Mensah’s comments were in regards to the potential of a future Vikings “tank”.
Simply put, don’t expect a tank to be coming anytime soon in Minnesota, at least, not as long as Adofo-Mensah is in charge of the team’s roster construction. Within his article, Coller included this quote from the Vikings GM on the topic of 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.”
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on tanking
It is a very fair point. The sport of football is very violent in nature, and the players only have so much time to compete in the NFL before they are ultimately replaced by cheaper, faster, younger options. Losing games “on purpose” could be seen as a waste of these players careers, even if it is just for a season.
Teams do use this approach, though, especially if it seems like a way to find generational-type players. The Cincinnati Bengals did it in 2019 before drafting Joe Burrow; the Jacksonville Jaguars did it in 2020 before drafting Trevor Lawrence.
In those instances, it appears to have worked. However, there are plenty of other instances (Cleveland Browns, New York Jets) where instead of finding these franchise leaders, tanking has simply spiraled them down into a constant loop of losing football.
Ultimately, the Vikings are probably best-suited to try to put the best team that they can on the field right now rather than tanking to get a higher draft pick. They have franchise cornerstone-type players in left tackle Christian Darrisaw and wide receiver Justin Jefferson on offense as well as budding contributors on defense like Brian Asamoah and Akayleb Evans.
In order to remain competitive in 2023, the Vikings will need to do some serious roster reconstruction, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. It will be very interesting to see how they approach this free agency period as well as the draft.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.