Cousins negotiation 'probably' goes to deadline; Vikings GM rips 'untrue' narrative
One day after Kwesi Adofo-Mensah chastised what he called "completely false" reports that Justin Jefferson could be traded, the Minnesota Vikings general manager hopped on a radio show in Indianapolis – the site of the NFL Combine – and reiterated his disdain for untrue narratives.
"We're trying to lock down a blue player, a blue person in our organization. I don't think you're supposed to think about anything else. I think that's unwise. It has not crossed our mind," Adofo-Mensah reiterated to KFXN-FM 100.3's Paul Allen.
"Just because I don't stay in the here and now with everything that gets said, doesn't mean it doesn't matter. Narratives do matter. I'm starting to realize that and at times you wish you could confront some of these things in a real-time basis but I've chosen to not do the job that way," he continued. "I want to do it with integrity. I want to do it with the respect I have for journalists. I grew up with a great appreciation for journalists. You're talking about somebody who reads Sports Illustrated cover-to-cover from when he was a kid, still to this day when I get time it's probably my favorite thing to do. So I have a ton of respect for sports journalists, and I wish that the standard that you guys all uphold would be upheld by everybody but it isn't always the case and that's unfair that these narratives run without steam."
Steam was the key word used by Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press in his most recent column, as he wrote: "Meanwhile, steam continues that the Vikings could make Justin Jefferson available for trade."
"I will stand up for the Minnesota Vikings when untrue things are being floated," Adofo-Mensah said.
Cousins negotiation 'probably' goes to the wire
Asked when he believes he'll have an answer, one way or another, about quarterback Kirk Cousins, Adofo-Mensah said he thinks negotiations will go down to the wire.
"I think it probably will go right down to the deadline. I hope it doesn't. I don't like hoping but as I've learned in this league deadlines do just kind of get people to, you know, tighten up, I guess, and come to that final agreement," he explained.
"I would expect it maybe to, but again, we've had conversations with his representation. Great relationship with Mike (McCartney) and Kirk obviously knows how we feel about him, he knows how he feels about Minnesota. I hoping that it won't be that but for me to predict would be unwise."
The deadline seems to be March 11, when Cousins' and his agent can start negotiating with teams ahead of the official free agency opening on March 13.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport believes Cousins will be gone if he gets to free agency.
"For me, it feels like they will have to do a deal with Cousins before free agency," Rapoport said Tuesday. "Once he gets to free agency, hard to imagine he comes back."
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Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.