Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s Real Test Begins Now
Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah recently signed a well-deserved contract extension, which is set to keep him in Minnesota for the foreseeable future.
Kwesi’s tenure as GM has had its ups and downs. His 2022 draft class was a major failure, producing zero impact players for the Vikings. And while his draft picks have improved somewhat, he has yet to land a bona fide star.
On the other hand, Kwesi has had great success in free agency. His 2024 free agency class—headlined by future Pro Bowlers Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel—was one of the best in recent NFL history and helped transform the Vikings’ defense into one of the league’s top units. Kwesi’s UDFA signing of Ivan Pace Jr.—a multi-year starter for the Vikings—is also commendable.
At the end of the day, the main referendum on Kwesi’s team-building has been the team’s collective performance since he took over in 2022. In three seasons, the Vikings have posted a 34-17 regular season record—the 6th best mark of any team in the NFL—while completely overhauling the roster.
This is impressive for any GM, but it’s especially laudable given that Kwesi inherited an aging, expensive roster that was bad enough to get the previous GM fired.
Still, Kwesi’s work isn’t done. Two embarrassing playoff defeats with no playoff wins isn’t good enough to satisfy the Purple faithful: Kwesi’s Vikings have been good, but they must take a step forward in the years ahead.
Furthermore, Kwesi has made a big gamble by cheaping out at the QB position, letting more established QBs Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold walk in free agency and instead bringing in an unproven (though highly drafted) QB in J.J. McCarthy to replace them. If the J.J. gamble works out, Kwesi will be hailed as a genius, and he will likely be in Minnesota for years to come.
But if McCarthy is a bust, even the success Kwesi has seemed so far will seem woefully inadequate. Kwesi will be remembered not as the man who led the Vikings to two 13-win seasons in three years but rather as the guy who replaced a young, highly drafted QB who had finally realized his full potential (Darnold) with the next Christian Ponder.
Job security is essentially non-existent in the NFL, even when you’ve got a multi-year contract in hand.
Kwesi Deserves a Medal for 1 Stunning Upgrade