Monster decision by NFC North rival opens the door for Packers to strengthen their front office in a way few expect
Vikings fired GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is not perfect by any means. He spent four seasons as the Minnesota Vikings general manager, and beyond the understandable scouting mistakes, there were also some strategic issues — and that was supposed to be his calling card coming from the analytics world.
But that doesn’t mean Adofo-Mensah couldn’t bring a lot to any NFL organization. On Friday, the Vikings fired him, and the Green Bay Packers should at least explore the possibility of signing him to work under general manager Brian Gutekunst.
Background
Adofo-Mensah, 44, started his NFL career and spent seven seasons on the San Francisco 49ers — the final three working alongside head coach Kyle Shanahan as a director of football research and development. He was responsible for developing strategies and a database of information, which included but wasn’t limited to building draft value charts.
Since he took over as a GM in 2022, the Vikings have had a respectable 43-25 record. He built strong rosters, had a good connection with head coach Kevin O’Connell, and added a lot of talent to the Vikings via free agency. The draft was an issue for the most part, but ultimately the quarterback situation was why he got fired — especially after how successful Sam Darnold has been for the Seattle Seahawks.
“You spend a lot of those nights, obviously, you’re up in these decisions, and they’re uncertain,” Adofo-Mensah said on Thursday. “You’re trying to make sure you don’t lock yourself into what you did and thinking that it’s always right. 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 in certain places.”
Not getting it right at the most important position in football was costly, and that’s fair to a certain extent.
Why Kwesi Adofo-Mensah makes sense for the Packers
Even though Adofo-Mensah didn’t achieve with the Vikings the success he expected, the executive could still be a valuable tool for the Packers. Green Bay has just lost vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan, who became the general manager of the Miami Dolphins.
Gutekunst will find a potential replacement in the scouting department, but having a person who brings a different background and GM experience to the front office would be huge for the Packers. An inside look on a divisional rival doesn’t hurt either.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah made his fair share of mistakes. But as an assistant general manager under Gutekunst and inside the Packers’ infrastructure, the Princeton graduate could be extremely helpful.
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