Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Might Just Have to Wait
When Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell received a contract extension shortly after the end of the 2024 campaign, credible reporting suggested that general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah would be next.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Might Just Have to Wait
But he might have to wait, says NFL insider Benjamin Allbright.
NFL Network’s Tom Peliserro tweeted on January 21st, “The Vikings and coach Kevin O’Connell have agreed to terms on a multi-year contract extension, sources tell me and Ian Rapoport. This was Minnesota’s priority and conversations started immediately after the season. Still only 39, O’Connell isn’t going anywhere.”
Pelissero let that bombshell percolate for one minute — one actual minute — and retweeted the same tweet with more clarity, “Conversations also are underway on an extension for Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. Minnesota is 34-17 since they took over in 2022 and the plan is to keep the braintrust together.”
Fast forward one month and no Adofo-Mensah extension has been made public.
Speaking with the Vikings Happy Hour podcast this week, the aforementioned Allbright explained about Adofo-Mensah’s incoming extension: “From what I understood, they need to see another draft class here and get a better gauge and better pulse from your side of the house, cause we know what it is from the coaches side of the house, and we like that.”
If Allbright has it right, well, Minnesota’s ownership evidently needs one more draft for the proof in the pudding.
Most fans support Adofo-Mensah’s prolonged stay in the Twin Cities. He onboarded a woefully inadequate 2022 draft class during his first few months on the job but has since recovered by finding rookies like Jordan Addison, Ivan Pace Jr., Mekhi Blackmon, J.J. McCarthy, and Dallas Turner. The young executive also knocked 2024 free agency out of the park, signing Andrew Van Ginkel, Jonathan Greenard, Blake Cashman, Aaron Jones, and Sam Darnold, among others.
The Vikings also have a 34-17 (.667) win percentage on Adofo-Mensah’s watch, which does not grow on trees.
Adofo-Mensah said about an extension a couple of days after the Vikings lost in the postseason, “They expressed to me their appreciation for Kevin and I’s leadership, and they’re really supportive of us. It’s my third year, I always think back to the unbelievable opportunity that they gave me. I’ve always dreamt of being a general manager in an organization that’s trying to do the thing they haven’t done before, and I still have visions — I wake up in the morning and think of what that could be like.”
“And so I’m always going to go back to that, the gratitude that I have for them and that I want to be the general manager going forward … I’m unbelievably grateful to be the general manager of the Vikings, and I want to continue to be. So, I’m going to leave this office and keep being the general manager of the Vikings and work hard to try to improve this team, and whatever comes to the future, will come,” Adofo-Mensah added about the upcoming extension.
Overall, if you’re wondering why Adofo-Mensah has not joined O’Connell in the contract extension realm, there’s a slight chance that he has prove-it draft around the bend.
The NFL Draft is 64 days away.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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