At Some Point Soon, The Vikings May Start Getting a Bit Nervous
Close to a month has passed and still there is no new deal to extend general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. What’s going on behind the scenes between the Vikings and the GM?
All things considered, Adofo-Mensah has done a nice job. Yes, the drafting has mostly been poor, but he has nevertheless been central to overhauling the team and its culture. The roster is strong and so, too, is the budget. High-end talent is littered throughout the team and there’s a young passer — No. 10 pick J.J. McCarthy — who is being leaned on to become the franchise quarterback. Does that merit reinvesting in the former investor?
The Vikings and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah
Somewhat ironically, the negotiation appears to be a bit of a grind (at least from the outside looking in).
Adofo-Mensah has developed a reputation for being a tough negotiator. He allowed Kirk Cousins to walk away, letting the Falcons overpay for an injured, older passer. The Justin Jefferson deal took a long time and he eventually found common ground with T.J. Hockenson after a standoff.
When it comes to negotiating deals that soar well into the millions, Adofo-Mensah has ice water in his veins.
Not long ago, the word was that the attention was turning from the HC to the GM.
Consider, for instance, the update from Tom Pelissero of The NFL Network. “Conversations also are underway,” Pelissero wrote, “on an extension for #Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. Minnesota is 34-17 since they took over in 2022 and the plan is to keep the braintrust together.”
The update arrived on January 21st. Since then, crickets.
Keep in mind that extending O’Connell was enthusiastically promoted on social media by the franchise itself. Presumably, there would be similar enthusiasm about Adofo-Mensah agreeing to stick around for a little longer, as well.
One thinks back to the executive explaining how a negotiation works. Essentially, there needs to be a willingness to pursue different options. Otherwise, there’s no leverage.
“Your leverage in a negotiation,” the GM previously explained, “is your willingness to do something else. So I gotta say, ‘I will not do this because I would rather do these three other things and make our team better.’ It’s gotta mean something.”
Would Kwesi Adofo-Mensah really do something other than be the GM of the Minnesota Vikings? Is there a problem in terms of overall compensation? Something else? Does the impasse lead to the team and executive going into the final year of Adofo-Mensah’s contract without an extension?
The NFL offseason is well underway. Soon, the NFL Combine is going to arrive. Free agency is soon to follow and then there will be the draft.
At the end of the day, money is still what makes the NFL move. Minnesota is going to be able to do business. But, to be sure, having organizational stability is a positive, a reality that may reasonably factor into some players’ decision-making — especially veterans — when it comes to picking a team to play for in 2025 (and beyond).
An extension for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah should get done before these critical offseason events take place. Right now, though, it’s anyone’s guess if/when there will be a resolution.
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, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.
