How hot are the seats of Kevin O'Connell, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah?

The belief of one Minnesota sports insider is that O'Connell is safe, while Adofo-Mensah's situation might be a little more tricky.

Kevin O'Connell / Image courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings

Following the 2021 NFL season, the Minnesota Vikings elected to punt on the Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer regime and replaced the general manager and head coach with Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O'Connell.

The first year under the new leadership yielded 13 wins before a meltdown in the playoffs against the Giants. Year 2 saw Kirk Cousins tear his Achilles and Justin Jefferson miss nearly half the season with a hamstring injury and Minnesota limped to the finish line at 7-10. Do the results in Year 3, which will feature a reclamation project and a rookie — Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy — at quarterback determine the long-term fate of Adofo-Mensah and O'Connell?

According to KSTP-TV's Darren Wolfson, O'Connell's future is not in doubt whereas there might be more questions about the fate of the 42-year-old general manager.

"Kevin is going to be here. So even if [J.J. McCarthy] maybe doesn't live up to quite the expectations that many of us have for him when you are a top-10 pick, I'm telling you, they love Kevin so much in that building...I don't think Kevin's going anywhere. His job security is, to me, A+," Wolfson said Tuesday on Minnesota Sports with Mackey & Judd. "Kwesi, maybe, still to be determined to some extent."

Adofo-Mensah's first draft in 2022 delivered next to nothing as first-round pick Lewis Cine and second-round pick Andrew Booth Jr. are both in danger of not making the team in 2024. His 2023 draft delivered wide receiver Jordan Addison and he wound up finding a diamond in the rough with undrafted linebacker Ivan Pace Jr.

Could the rookie performances of the 2023 class, namely McCarthy and fellow first-rounder, edge rusher Dallas Turner, be the determining factors in whether the GM gets a second contract? How much do the free-agent acquisitions the past two seasons weigh in the decision to extend Adofo-Mensah?

Last season, the Vikings main free-agent signings were tight end Josh Oliver, linebacker Marcus Davenport, defensive lineman Dean Lowry, cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., wide receiver Brandon Powell and cornerback Joejuan Williams. Davenport and Lowry battled injuries while Oliver and Murphy Jr. played key roles. Powell's role also increased in the absence of Jefferson and he's competing for a WR3 job this summer.

This past offseason saw Adofo-Mensah sign linebackers Blake Cashman and Andrew Van Ginkel, cornerback Shaq Griffin, defensive linemen Jonathan Greenard and Jerry Tillery, quarterback Sam Darnold, running back Aaron Jones and tight end Robert Tonyan.

Adofo-Mensah and O'Connell signed four-year contracts when they were hired in 2022, which means that without an extension in the next calendar year they could be entering the 2025 season on lame-duck deals.