The Vikings Buzzword that has Popped Up in Different Press Conferences
The press conferences from Kwesi Adofo-Mensah commonly feature similar ideas. Alongside Kevin O’Connell, Adofo-Mensah places a high emphasis on building a specific culture. Very commonly, there is the mention of pursuing a “championship standard.” He constantly preaches about the importance of value.
A different Vikings buzzword feels particularly pertinent right now, though: achieving a talent “threshold.”
During the offseason, Minnesota’s leadership has been far more patient than Minnesota’s fans. Left up to the armchair GMs (and perhaps even a former GM), the Vikings would have already used up their cap space by bringing in talented vets. The real GM, in contrast, has decided to slow play things even as his self-proclaimed desire is to trot out a team that meets a very specific threshold.
The Vikings Buzzword: A Talent Threshold
After the season concluded, the GM and HC faced the Minnesota media to discuss their disappointing finish and plans for the future. Listen closely and you’ll hear Kwesi repeat a significant word at different points.
He describes how his team’s pursuit of the Super Bowl is predicated on meeting a certain talent threshold. “Every team’s got [salary cap] constraints,” Adofo-Mensah notes, “and so at our disposal, like I said earlier, first you start off with the players: we’ve got good players and good people. So you start there. And ultimately, we have a lot of tools at our disposal […] We’ll consider everything we have and ultimately it will be to fit our vision with the end goal in mind of meeting that talent threshold to win a championship.”
At other points in the same presser, the GM actually repeats the term “talent threshold.” Generally speaking, when Kwesi repeats himself, it’s worth perking up. The concept is central to how he’s approaching his job. Or, at the very least, what he’s allowing us to see about how he approaches his job.
At the combine, the general manager discussed Kirk Cousins. Once again, the critical word – threshold – pops up.
In Adofo-Mensah’s mind, Cousins is a starting-level quarterback in the NFL, someone capable of offering his team strong play. “We know that for sure,” Kwesi notes, “[Cousins] meets that threshold.” However, does his contract allow the roster more broadly to meet a talent threshold, the elusive championship standard? That’s the issue the GM has been trying to navigate.
The roster certainly has talent. High-end players like Justin Jefferson, Christian Darrisaw, Harrison Smith, Brian O’Neill, Marcus Davenport, and Danielle Hunter remain. Admittedly, subtracting the final name on that list will make things more challenging, but the broader points remains: the 2023 Vikings have some excellent talent leading the charge within a team that possesses plenty of other solid players.
A major part of the concern rests in the depth, or lack thereof. There are numerous spots – especially on defense – that are a single injury away from being in a tricky spot. What happens if Byron Murphy Jr. gets hurt? And what about Jordan Hicks at linebacker? Those are spots that don’t have a ton of proven options.
One can reasonably wonder, then, if the team has met the critical threshold that Kwesi commonly mentions. Or, perhaps, is the process still ongoing as the team nears training camp and the preseason? If the evaluators deem the team is still lacking, maybe the GM circles back around to the NFL’s free agents.
An NFL GM is never truly done working. The team always needs at least some level of care, so Adofo-Mensah will be continuing to find ways to keep pushing the Vikings forward. Along the way, he’ll be asking himself if they have surpassed the threshold necessary for snagging that Lombardi.
Minnesota’s seasons begins on September 10th when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers arrive at U.S. Bank Stadium.
