NFL: Minnesota Vikings Find Next General Manager

With the team unable to do either, they decided to end the tenure of Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman. Now they have filled one of those holes with the hiring of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as general manager.

Robert Gregson | Jan 27, 2022

NFL: Minnesota Vikings Find Next General Manager /

Coming into the 2021 NFL season, the Minnesota Vikings had one of the better rosters on paper. With a stacked offense and experienced defense guided by head coach Mike Zimmer, expectations were they would be playoff contenders if not battle Green Bay for the division. With the team unable to do either, they decided to end the tenure of Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman. Now they have filled one of those holes with the hiring of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as general manager.

Adofo-Mensah was one of many being mentioned for the position along with recently hired Bears general manager Ryan Poles. After a second interview, it was evident the Vikings found their man in Adofo-Mensah as he now sets out to hire a head coach before free agency and the draft.

Most recently the vice president of football operations for the Cleveland Browns, Adofo-Mensah initially started as manager of football research with the San Francisco 49ers after working in the corporate world. He then joined the Browns front office where he helped build the team that achieved a playoff win for the first time in over 25 years in 2020.

An Ivy-League graduate from Princeton, Adofo-Mensah worked on Wall Street after college before attaining his Masters in economics at Stanford and starting his NFL career. A quick adapter, Adolfo-Mensah will need to work fast as there is a litany of decisions to be made regarding a Vikings team stuck in the middle of the pack.

After Adofo-Mensah decides on the next head coach, he will then be tasked with adding to a roster that was not short of talent in 2021, but does have holes and age concerns. With his first draft as head man in April, there is potential for a splash pick at quarterback, should he feel Kirk Cousins is no longer viable. There is also second-year backup Kellen Mond to account for and a need to upgrade the offensive line and secondary. With plenty of decisions to be made, Adofo-Mensah’s team-building philosophy will soon reveal itself as we enter the offseason.

*Go All Access - Subscribe to NFL Draft Bible today and receive a one-year subscription to Sports Illustrated magazine, for FREE!