Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Gets His Extension

After reportedly months of negotiations, the Minnesota Vikings signed general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to a contract extension. Considering the fact that the team is in a much better place now than when he was hired following the 2021 season, it was a much-deserved extension. 

Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell were entering the final year of the contracts each signed in 2022. The Vikings and O’Connell agreed to a new deal in January. The months between the two extensions have been filled with some in the media and many fans wondering “what’s up with Adofo-Mensah’s new deal?” Opinions always drift to the negative when there’s questions in the air. The new deal for the team’s general manager was always going to get done. The Vikings are in a much better place now than they were when Adofo-Mensah was hired. He’s a big reason for that. The deal was always going to get done. 

In my opinion, the only real blemish to Adofo-Mensah’s time as the Vikings general manager is his first draft. The production from the ten players selected in the 2022 NFL Draft has been terrible. Brian Asamoah (3rd round), Ty Chandler (5th), and Jalen Nailor (6th) are the only players from that draft still on the roster. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Nailor is the only one of the three still on the roster in the fall. While the drafts have gotten better since the failure in 2022, 2023 first round pick Jordan Addison is the only established starter that Adofo-Mensah has selected. His draft record should change significantly this year. If quarterback J.J. McCarthy and Dallas Turner emerge as the difference-making, franchise-leading players they were drafted to be, Adofo-Mensah will enter future seasons as a drafting genius. 

The draft isn’t the only way to build a roster these days. Perhaps due to draft misses, Adofo-Mensah has been forced to supplement the roster with diamonds in free agency. He’s absolutely nailed that task. From Harrison Phillips to Jonathan Greenard, the Vikings have excelled at finding playmakers in free agency. Nearly every new player added last offseason contributed significantly in 2024. That’s a remarkable feat. 

Perhaps Adofo-Mensah’s greatest roster contribution has been the smooth transition from an overpaid Kirk Cousins to a talented quarterback on a rookie deal. In the transition season from Cousins to McCarthy, the Vikings got a career season and a 14-3 record from Sam Darnold. A lot of that is the coaching of Kevin O’Connell but the personnel side of it is all Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.

Again, the Vikings are much better off now than they were in 2022 and the team’s future is very bright.

Possibly lost in the news of Kwesi Adofo-Menshah’s contract extension was the news that his top two lieutenants, Ryan Grigson and Demetrius Washington received promotions. They are now Assistant General Managers. With Adofo-Mensah coming from the analytics side of football, he needed someone to assist him with the football scouting side when he was named the Vikings general manager. Grigson was his first hire and he provided a lifetime of experience on the football side of the job. Washington was later hired to assist further with the analytics. In a way, Grigson and Washington are the balance between football and analytics that Adofo-Mensah walks. 

Congratulations to Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on his much-deserved contract extension and Ryan Grigson and Demetrius Washington on their much-deserved promotions.