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Minnesota Vikings Fire Kwesi Adofo-Mensah
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- Minnesota Vikings Fire Kwesi Adofo-Mensah
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Friday was certainly a bad day to be a front office executive in Minnesota. Before the ink had even dried on the Minnesota Twins statement "mutually parting ways" with Derek Falvey, the Minnesota Vikings pulled the plug on Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
The Wilf's watched the MN Vikings spend a boatload of money last offseason, and it resulted in just a 9-7 record . They missed the playoffs and changes appeared necessary . Although they waited some time to make them, the most significant has now happened.
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Kwesi Adofo-Mensah out as MN Vikings GM
While the Super Bowl is the only remaining game on the ledger, the Minnesota Vikings are fully in offseason mode. This one represents a critical juncture for the franchise, and they'll now need to find a new general manager to lead them.
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The #Vikings announce General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has been relieved of his duties. pic.twitter.com/JYUHgjbU5x
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) January 30, 2026
"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. 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 immediate, 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."
After serving as the Cleveland Browns vice president of football operations from 2020-2021, Adofo-Mensah was hired as the Minnesota Vikings general manager. Before landing in the NFL, Adofo-Mensah worked on Wall Street. As an analytical and numbers focused executive, he brought a different perspective to the front office.
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Unfortunately Adofo-Mensah's track record in the NFL Draft continued to work against him. His first ever pick, Lewis Cine, was a bust. He also opted against drafting Kyle Hamilton, a Pro Bowl safety he passed up to trade back with the Detroit Lions .
Now the Vikings are faced with a young quarterback entering his third season, and no substantiated belief he can be the guy. The roster is aging, and time is running out to make this cycle work. Whoever takes over will need to quickly right the ship.
Throughout the season, there was talk about an underlying "tension" in the Vikings' building in league circles. One league source said it had been "ugly" in Minnesota. Then today, the Vikings fired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
For the immediate future, Brzezinski will run the ship. Minnesota is confident he can handle the draft portion of the offseason. At that point, the Vikings must determine who most aligns with the intended direction of the organization.
Kevin O'Connell to have new MN Vikings boss
For years we have seen Kevin O'Connell alongside Kwesi Adofo-Mensah at a multitude of functions That will no longer be the case, and it remains to be seen how his new boss will interact.
Vikings, understandably, have a solid contingent at Gophers Pro Day.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah watching the 40 with Ryan Grigson. Wes Phillips in attendance as well. pic.twitter.com/LVqHSpS7AH— Ted (@tlschwerz) March 19, 2025
Since the Wilf's opted to fire their general manager at this stage of the offseason, it should be assumed that O'Connell and the staff will be retained. However, they are now squarely on the hot seat as the new general manager didn't have a say in selecting them.
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We saw this play out when the Pohlads brought in Derek Falvey only to saddle him with Paul Molitor. O'Connell can quickly build credibility if a level of winning , especially in the playoffs, is immediately present.
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