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Nearly four weeks after ending the 2025 season on a five-game winning streak, the Vikings have made a major change to the football operation.
G.M. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has been fired.
The timing is unusual, to say the least. It implies that ownership engaged in a careful review and deliberation of the missteps that kept a Super Bowl-ready team from making the playoffs, headlined by the ill-fated handling of the quarterback position for 2025.
From our examination of the coming coaching carousel, posted on December 31: “Coach Kevin O’Connell is the right leader for the team. How much leading are they letting him do? Someone bungled the quarterback decision(s) for 2025. We’ve got a feeling that someone wasn’t O’Connell. If that sense is right, O’Connell needs to have more sway in 2026. While that doesn’t necessarily require G.M. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to be replaced (then again, his draft record has not been flawless), it does require O’Connell to have a larger voice in personnel matters.”
Today’s move suggests that O’Connell will have more power in 2026, especially as it relates to the structure of the quarterback depth chart.
It also suggests that, a year ago, O’Connell didn’t want to let Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones leave in free agency. And that O’Connell perhaps didn’t want to say “no thank you” to Aaron Rodgers. J.J. McCarthy, who missed all of his rookie year with a knee injury, clearly was not ready. The Vikings absolutely needed a veteran backup plan better than signing Carson Wentz less than two weeks before the first game of the regular season.
Arguably, the Vikings should have had a veteran starter, with McCarthy sitting for a year.
Last March, while everyone waited to see what the Vikings would do at quarterback, some who were dealing with the Vikings expressed confusion as to who is calling the shots. This March, that likely won’t be an issue.
Adofo-Mensah was hired four years ago, in the same cycle that saw the purging of former coach Mike Zimmer and former G.M. Rick Spielman and the hiring of O’Connell. Adofo-Mensah received a contract extension after the 2024 season, as did O’Connell.
The Vikings also have announced that executive V.P. of football operations Rob Brzezinski will lead the front office through the draft. The search for a new General Manager will begin thereafter.
The broader question is whether O’Connell will emerge with control over the roster and/or the draft. Could he become, essentially, a Bill Belichick-type coach and de facto G.M., with a V.P. of player personnel or G.M. “light” to assist him?
Regardless, with Darnold getting ready for the Super Bowl and the Vikings nearly a month into the aftermath of another season of unfulfilled expectations, ownership decided that something had to change. And that something was the General Manager.
Mark and Zygi Wilf: It’s in the team’s best interest to move forward with new leadership
The Vikings have confirmed the firing of General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on Friday morning.
Team owners Mark and Zygi Wilf issued a joint statement on Adofo-Mensah’s dismissal, also noting that executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski will handle the team’s personnel through the 2026 draft in April, after which the club will undergo a full search for a new G.M.
“Following our annual end-of-season organizational meetings over the last several weeks and after careful consideration, we have decided it is in the best interest of the team to move forward with new leadership of our football operations,” the Wilfs’ statement reads. “These decisions are never easy. We are grateful for Kwesi’s contributions and commitment to the organization over the past four years and wish him and his family the best in the future.
“Effective immediately, executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski will lead our operations through the 2026 NFL Draft. Rob brings tremendous credibility and experience, understands our roster and has the ability to build consensus and rely on the expertise of our personnel and coaches. After the draft, we intend to conduct a thorough search to identify our next general manager. Building a team that can contend for championships drives us every day, and we look forward to bringing our fans the success they so deserve.”
The Vikings went 43-25 over the last four seasons with Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell. But the team did not win a postseason game and finished a disappointing 9-8 in 2025 after going 14-3 in 2024.
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