Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Discusses Idea of Trading Up for a Quarterback in the Draft

"Just because something's risky, doesn't mean you have to stay away from it."

Nov 24, 2022; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah / Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah knows what's at stake in this year's NFL draft, which is just two weeks away. He knows the Vikings need a quarterback, and he knows that in order to get one, he might need to execute the risky move of sending multiple first-round picks in a trade to climb up the board. Speaking to reporters at TCO Performance Center on Thursday, the Vikings' general manager sounded like someone who is prepared to roll the dice if the right deal presents itself.

"I think just because something's risky, doesn't mean you have to stay away from it," Adofo-Mensah said. "It's something that is hard to grasp but if you grasp it, you know what the rewards are, right? And that's something you have to weigh and measure."

After letting Kirk Cousins walk in free agency, the Vikings are essentially locked into selecting one of the consensus top six quarterbacks in the first round of this draft. There's inherent risk and uncertainty that comes with drafting any player, but particularly a quarterback, where the importance of the decision is magnified.

History has shown that teams have a hard time predicting which QBs are going to pan out and which ones won't. The Vikings believe that their elite offensive infrastructure will raise the odds of their next quarterback succeeding, but they're still going to be simply making an educated decision and hoping for the best. The reason why that's worth it is because the potential upside and benefit of finding a quality quarterback on a rookie contract is so massive.

"When we talk about these players, it's not just how good are they, it's how do we get the best version of themselves if they come to the Minnesota Vikings?" Adofo-Mensah said. "We set up plans before they walk in the building. I think our odds will be better than the margins. How good are those odds? Obviously, it's still a pretty risky thing. But just because something's risky, doesn't mean you're scared of it, you just have to believe in — it's uncertain, right? It's uncertain. And we gotta take our swing. But that (uncertainty) doesn't give us any pause."

The Vikings are preparing themselves for all kinds of scenarios. They have the 11th overall pick, and also the 23rd overall pick, which they acquired from the Texans for two second-rounders to give themselves more flexibility to secure their quarterback. They've been studying these QBs — Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels, J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr. — and putting each one through a private workout. They want to get one of their preferred guys, but they can't force a trade.

On the one hand, Adofo-Mensah is mindful of the cost that would be required to move up the board. "I don't think you want to necessarily go take these huge swings and not be able to build a team around them," he said. On the other hand, he's well aware that what matters more than anything is getting this decision right at the most important position in the sport. "If you get the guy right and he’s your answer for 10 years, then there's no price you probably wouldn't have paid, right, looking back?"

That's the balance the Vikings are trying to strike in this upcoming decision. They're pondering trading up, but how much are they willing to give up to make that happen?

"You’re in a blind auction in a sense, right?" Adofo-Mensah said. "And you don't know when the next person is gonna raise their hand and call a name. So you’ve really just got to be strategic about how you position yourself. At the end of the day, you’ve got to ask yourself, ‘Am I going to regret not doing this trade? If that player gets picked at this spot, whatever this spot is, and I was willing to give up this? Can I sleep at night?’ That's how we’ve gotta look at the board in every place. And then we'll come up with our valuations for every player in that way, and we'll make our calls and we'll go from there."

As Adofo-Mensah works the phones and negotiates deals to move up, he knows he can't just accept whatever price the other side is asking for. He has to be able to risk waiting a little longer for someone like McCarthy — or be comfortable holding onto his picks and taking Penix or Nix outside of the top ten. Whether or not a trade happens is going to come down to the Vikings' board and the price they're comfortable paying. With Adofo-Mensah, there's always a line in the sand.

"It's always about walkaway prices," he said. "And walkaway prices, to me, are meaningful because it's another action. Your only leverage in the negotiation is your willingness to do something else. So I’ve gotta say, ‘I will not do this because I would rather do these three other things and make our team better.’ It's gotta mean something. That's how we view this exercise. And so if other teams are willing to do that in a different way that doesn't align with how we think, then we won't do it."

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