Kwesi Deserves Credit
K. Joudry
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Kwesi deserves credit for how he negotiated in free agency.
For a little while, it’s been evident that the GM is far from a pushover while jostling for position on a contract. The man has a vision and will see it through. Adofo-Mensah had a limit with Kirk Cousins and wasn’t willing to go beyond that limit.
Moving on from Cousins isn’t without some pain. Indisputably, he’s among the best quarterbacks to ever play for Minnesota. He would almost certainly have been the best choice for competing in 2024. Sam Darnold may have played for some awful teams, but he’s not close to being on Cousins’ level (in all likelihood, neither will a rookie).
The price, though, was too steep. Atlanta emptied the ATM and Minnesota was wise not to match the gargantuan numbers.
And then there’s the pile of other decisions that the GM made. Some talent was added, some talent was subtracted. Overall, how did Adofo-Mensah do?
Kwesi Deserves Credit for The First Wave of Free Agency
Seeing Danielle Hunter walk for just a pair of seasons and $49 million was disappointing. At that price, Minnesota likely should have done more to retain him.
Of course, there are factors beyond just the stripped-down, plain facts about years and money. Ian Rapoport notes how there was a higher offer out there. Similarly, the NFL insider explains that Hunter’s deal is “98% fully guaranteed and includes $29.5M in Year 1.” Partner those realities with being able to play close to home — he went to high school at nearby Morton Ranch — and the fit makes a lot of sense for Hunter, especially since he’ll be working alongside Will Anderson and under the tutelage of DeMeco Ryans.
Even still, the $24.5 million average is pretty manageable, all things considered. His cap hit for Houston in 2024 is just $14,750,000; his dead money charge in 2024 for Minnesota is $14,906,667. The pass rusher’s cap hit only gets to $24,750,000 next year, the byproduct of some void year shenanigans.
Couldn’t Minnesota have found a way of retaining him?
As I’ve been saying for a while, there’s an important truth to remember about Mr. Hunter. As soon as a guy like Danielle Hunter walks out the door, the Vikings will begin looking for a player exactly like Danielle Hunter. Losing him is painful.
And yet there was the steal-of-a-deal for Jonathan Greenard. The former Texan is younger — he’ll turn 27 in May, Hunter will turn 30 in October — and is coming off of a 12.5-sack season. Getting the defender to town for four seasons and $76 million in total money is a tidy bit of business for the GM. The current high-end for edge rushers is Nick Bosa’s $34M per season average, a top end that Greenard is coming under by a cool $15M.
Sinking money into Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman also seems likely to pay dividends. After all, the front seven has been in need of an overhaul for a little while.
The concern is simply that Minnesota is paying for each of these three players’ career years. Statistically, Greenard, Van Ginkel, and Cashman were at their best in 2023, so Minnesota isn’t exactly buying low.
And while the Darnold move is very unlikely to result in a new franchise QB, the Aaron Jones signing is a stroke of genius. Yes, he had some injury troubles last season and is nearing a dreaded birthday — 30 on December 2nd — but the man is still an excellent runner. Needing to account for all of Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, and Aaron Jones is asking a ton of defenses.
And then, of course, there was the wild trade that emerged on Friday morning. An outsider’s perspective is that the deal came out of nowhere, but the GM has very likely been chipping away at this one for a while. The rumors almost unanimously suggest that the Vikings are positioning themselves for a run at a top quarterback, so we’ll see how things unfold leading up to the NFL Draft on April 25th.
To be sure, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah still has more work to do. Free agency week is when most of the signings occur, but additions are going to be happening around the league for literally the rest of the year. He can’t become complacent.
After a few days in the new league year, though, Adofo-Mensah deserves plenty of praise.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.