The Overlooked Vikings GM Candidate to Watch for Minnesota’s Front Office Opening
Last time, plundering the LA Rams worked out reasonably well; filling the HC opening in 2022 meant hiring Kevin O’Connell, who has proven to be above average. Should Minnesota decide to go back to the same franchise to address the GM opening?
Recently, word emerged of the Rams extending head coach Sean McVay alongside general manager Les Snead (news announcement). Would filling the vacant Vikings GM job with Ray Farmer — who has been working for the Rams since 2020 and currently functions as Special Advisor to the GM — be the correct way to go? Lots of chatter about George Paton, but don’t lose sight of Farmer.
The Vikings GM Search and LA’s Ray Farmer
Previously, Mr. Farmer has worked as a general manager in the NFL.
In fact, he did so with the Browns while Kevin O’Connell was on the coaching staff. Mike Pettine, recently retired from Minnesota’s coaching staff, was the top skipper in Cleveland. More broadly, the coaching staffs under Farmer were wildly impressive, employing Kyle Shanahan, Aaron Glenn, Jeff Hafley, Mike McDaniel, Mike LaFleur, Anthony Weaver, and John DeFilippo at different points across 2014 to 2015.
Farmer didn’t have a pristine track record in his pair of drafts with Cleveland. Most notably, there was the decision to choose Johnny Manziel at No. 22 in the 2014 NFL Draft. To his great credit, Farmer did select All Pro guard Joel Bitonio at No. 35 in the same draft.
Consider some of the broader NFL experience, as relayed by the Rams’ website: “Before joining the Browns, Farmer was with the Chiefs for seven seasons as the director of pro personnel after spending four years with the Falcons as a scout and assistant director of pro personnel.”
Keeping score at home means noting that Farmer has worked for the Falcons, Chiefs, Browns, and Rams. Not too shabby.
So, too, does he have a background as a player: “Farmer graduated from Duke University in 1996 and was selected in the fourth round of the 1996 Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. He played three seasons at linebacker for the Eagles before a knee injury ended his career. As a player, he appeared in 32 games (16 starts) and registered 63 tackles (50 solo), 2.0 sacks, four fumble recoveries and one forced fumble.”
There’s some chatter that Minnesota will pivot off of a less-experienced, more outside-the-box hire in Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. The former GM was an academic and investor prior to being a numbers nerd in the NFL. Would pivoting toward a former player who has been in NFL front offices for a long time be the move?
As a Rams employee from 2020 to now, Ray Farmer has won a Super Bowl. Consider, as well, some of the Rams’ draft picks from within that time:
- RB Cam Akers — No. 52 in 2020
- LB Ernest Jones — No. 103 in 2021
- RB Kyren Williams — No. 164 in 2022
- DT Kobie Turner — No. 89 in 2023
- WR Puka Nacua — No. 177 in 2023
- EDGE Jared Verse — No. 19 in 2024
Obviously, that collection of talent isn’t solely the work of Ray Farmer. Note, as well, that not every pick is nearly as sensational as Williams, Nacua, and Verse. And yet there’s the other side of that reality: working from within the front office of an excellent franchise that has nourished its roster by crushing recent drafts.
The cherry on top is that Farmer has a relationship with O’Connell from past stops with the Browns and with the Rams. Any sense at all from the Zimmer/Spielman days that relationships matter in football? Some rumblings out there that Adofo-Mensah didn’t have a perfect relationship with Minnesota’s coaches.
Ray Farmer, 51, is reasonably young among NFL leaders. Having so much history in the league as both a player and executive makes him attractive, as does the O’Connell detail alongside some recent drafting success with the Rams.
In the meantime, Rob Brzezinski is leading things as the fill-in option at Vikings GM. We’ll see where the interviews go once May arrives.
