Vikings potential hiring of Ryan Grigson as general manager would be a PR problem with a curious future
We know the Minnesota Vikings are going to hire a new general manager, but hiring Ryan Grigson creates a bevy of issues.
When the Minnesota Vikings fired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as their general manager after the Senior Bowl in January, it was very curious.
Waiting until after he represented the Vikings in Mobile, scouting over 120 college prospects created a bevy of questions across the board. What were the Vikings doing? Why did they wait so long? How quickly were they going to hire his successor?
Instead of rushing the process, they gave Rob Brzezinski the interim general manager tag, with the idea that a new decision-maker would fix things. With how the Vikings had been drafting, but still fielding a good team, there was some merit to that. This year’s NFL Draft class looks better right now than it has in the last few years.
Hiring Ryan Grigson would be a fascinating decision
One candidate who is fascinating to discuss is Vice President of Player Personnel Ryan Grigson. Adofo-Mensah hired him in 2022 to be his right-hand man, and it was controversial at the time after his stint as general manager with the Indianapolis Colts. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer mentioned Grigson as a candidate with the idea of promoting Brzezinski to a higher role.
“I also think that the Vice President of Player Personnel, Ryan Grigson, has done a really nice job. He’s got the respect of the people in the building. He’s very close to the defensive coordinator, Brian Flores. I just I’m not sure how that would work with Brzezinski if he wants the job. Does Brzezinski get the first crack at it over Grigson, based on his tenure there? It’d be interesting to watch. They don’t have much urgency to do anything right now. The draft is in the rear view mirror. This is sort of a slower time in the calendar for scouts, and they don’t have anybody they’re competing with for candidates. So the Vikings have an opportunity here to kind of lay out look at their options. Take a good, hard look at all the guys, and then make make the right pick for their franchise.”
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer
Rumors were swirling that Grigson would be who defensive coordinator Brian Flores took with him to be the general manager if he got a head coaching job. That gives more credence to the idea of Grigson having “respect” of the people in the building. However, it’s a tough sell to the fanbase, who would not be thrilled with the idea.
Grigson took over as the general manager for the Colts after the 2011 season. He had the first overall pick and immediately selected one of the best quarterback prospects ever in Andrew Luck. He then surrounded him with tight ends Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen with the next two picks and a home run with T.Y. Hilton with the next pick. Outside of that, his next four drafts netted just three quality starters:
- WR Donte Moncrief (3rd, 2014)
- C Ryan Kelly (1st, 2016)
- OL Joe Haeg (5th, 2016)
In those pivotal draft classes from 2013-2015, Grigson didn’t draft a single Pro Bowl player, and a big reason why the Colts didn’t take a major step
During that time, Luck was brutalized by an offensive line that didn’t get addressed both nearly enough, nor were the additions good enough. It ended up getting him fired. He admitted that the lack of communication within the building was a big reason behind his departure.
“What I really think that I wasn’t able to ever do in that time I was there was really get to be a human at times,” Grigson told co-host Phil Savage and me Tuesday night on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “I hunkered down and just was laser-focused. I probably should have pressed pause and took some time to breathe for a second and communicate better to let people in more. I was only like that with my inner circle.
Maybe I blew it because I just never took the time to really establish relationships with the media. I came up in kind of an old-school way. I thought you just have to win football games and you don’t have to worry about doing those types of things. And I just never was a politician in that way. I just never felt like I had to.
I think I paid a handsome price for when I was on my way out.”
Alex marvez
The Sporting News
The idea behind hiring Grigson was to give Adofo-Mensah, who had never been the decision maker, someone he could lean on in certain situations. Mike Zimmer surrounded himself with multiple head coaches in his early years. It was a sound strategy in theory, but was it the right guy?
While Grigson didn’t make the decisions, he is being lumped in with Adofo-Mensah, and it would feel very uninspired. Zygi and Mark Wilf have shown a willingness to stay comfortable rather than rock the boat. This would be another move toward that exact idea.
Now, could the experience of Grigson since his departure from Indianapolis nearly 10 years ago, with stints in Cleveland and Minnesota, have made him better? Sure, but where is that evidence? How can we be sure that’s the case?
A Ryan Grigson hire could signal hot seat for Kevin O’Connell
Now, let’s get a little bit spicy. This is completely unfounded speculation, but a non-zero possibility. What if hiring Grigson could be a potential precursor to giving Flores the head coaching job in the next couple of years?
We already know that Grigson and Flores are tight, and the relationship between general manager and head coach is a priority for this hire. How does that impact current head coach Kevin O’Connell? A new general manager would have a say over O’Connell’s future, and he could choose to move on with a second consecutive subpar season.
The Vikings did everything they could to keep Flores in the building for another season, and it’s possible a promotion to head coach could be in his future. Keep in mind, this is all speculation, but the pieces could end up fitting just how I described them.
Grigson is more of a dark horse candidate right now, but none of this is out of the question. The next few weeks will be a major determination on what the Vikings will end up doing, especially the Wilf’s conservative nature.
