The Minnesota Vikings fired general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on Friday.
The move comes exactly eight months after Adofo-Mensah signed a multi-year contract extension with the Vikings.
It also comes one day after Adofo-Mensah acknowledged that he has endured sleepless nights since allowing quarterback Sam Darnold to walk in free agency last offseason. Darnold signed a three-year, $100.5 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks, who will face the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8.
Adofo-Mensah reportedly pushed to add Aaron Rodgers and also wanted to re-sign fellow quarterback Daniel Jones if the Vikings weren’t going to keep Darnold.
“You’re trying to make sure you don’t lock yourselves into what you did and thinking it’s always right. So there are nights you wake up and stare at the ceiling and ask yourself,” Adofo-Mensah told reporters Thursday.
“I always go back to the process, and what we thought at the time. It’s easier to kind of go and be revisionist and results based. But going to think through what we had at the time, I still understand why we did what we did. The results maybe didn’t play out the way we wanted them to, but ultimately I think at the end of the day, we could have executed better in certain places. Not saying individually in terms of a particular player, but just executing better knowing what the room was, play-style wise, experience wise, and putting together a better combination of people, collective in that group. That’s probably what I focused on the most.”
The Vikings opted to hand the keys to 2024 first-round pick JJ McCarthy at quarterback.
Minnesota finished missed the playoffs with a 9-8 record in 2025 after going 34-17 with two postseason appearances since Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell arrived ahead of the 2022 season.
“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,” a statement from Vikings owners Mark and Zygi Wilf read. “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.”
Executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski will lead the team through the 2026 NFL Draft, the Vikings announced. The team said it will conduct a thorough search for their next general manager after the draft.
Adofo-Mensah, 44, worked in the front offices of the San Francisco 49ers (2013-19) and Cleveland Browns (2020-21) before joining the Vikings.
–Field Level Media
