Kwesi Sent a Message
The rest of the NFL world may be leaving the Vikings behind, but Kwesi Adofo-Mensah doesn’t seem to care. The man has a vision and he’s seeing it through.
Stunningly, the Vikings’ young GM agreed to a brand-new extension on Tuesday, getting left tackle Christian Darrisaw under contract for four more seasons. In so doing, Adofo-Mensah has locked in one of the elite young players on his roster while continuing to signal that Minnesota views itself as a team on the ascent.
Kwesi’s Message to the League and Players
Start internally.
J.J. McCarthy and Dallas Turner just got drafted in the opening round. For a little while, their deals were left unsigned, but things got sorted out in time for training camp. Crisis averted. At what point do these young players start thinking about their next contract?
Justin Jefferson was a 2020 1st-Round selection and has performed at a historic level. Fittingly, the receiver landed a historic deal from the team that drafted him.
Fast forward a year and Christian Darrisaw got drafted in the opening round. The left tackle quickly rose to offering (at worst) borderline elite play; the only real criticism at this stage is that he hasn’t been fully healthy. Well, Minnesota responded with an elite deal to coincide with that play.
And, of course, we could kick things back even further. True, T.J. Hockenson wasn’t drafted by Minnesota, but the former 1st-Round selection also landed a top-tier deal after offering top-tier play. The GM orchestrated all of these contracts.
Guaranteed: McCarthy and Turner are taking notice. The message is crystal clear: perform excellently during the rookie contract and be rewarded with an excellent deal at the end. Minnesota has resources from the ownership and a GM who isn’t afraid of being bold.
The Vikings aren’t a miserly team where top talent can’t get paid. Quite the opposite is proving to be true.
Maybe as importantly, there’s the message to the external world. Basically everyone outside of Minnesota looks at Detroit and Green Bay as the ascending teams. After all, both squads went on playoff runs last season. Plus, Chicago just landed Caleb Williams, someone who may finally solve the longstanding QB dilemma in The Windy City.
Kwesi, however, isn’t shrinking from the challenge. Again, the opposite is true. He’s staring down an absolute gauntlet of a division and gearing up for the fight.
The offense is being built around Jefferson, Darrisaw, Hockenson, Brian O’Neill, and Jordan Addison. Kevin O’Connell is the chef who needs to make all of the ingredients work. Oh, and there’s the QB factor: does J.J. McCarthy fulfill his potential? There’s a lot of internal belief in his ability to do so. If the No. 10 pick hits, then the Vikings will be as good or better than most challengers.
Minnesota doesn’t have a perfect football team. What Minnesota does have is a cluster of talent that it feels confident building around as it looks to embrace competition. Kwesi’s message within all of that is that he’ll reward his own players and entrust them with going toe-to-toe with the best that the NFL has to offer.
Game on.
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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.