You know what NFL team stinks? The Minnesota Vikings! While they are not festering in a dumpster bad like the Denver Broncos, the Chicago Bears or god forbid, the Carolina Panthers, this team is going nowhere fast. Yes, Minnesota may be 2-4 on the season, but the Vikings' two wins are one-score victories over the lifeless Bears and Panthers. Just imagine if they play somebody else good...
Not to say I predicted this, but the Vikings were arguably the most likely pullback candidate of any team that made the playoffs a year ago. Minnesota won double-digit games and a down NFC North. The Detroit Lions started to figure it out in the second half, while the Green Bay Packers unraveled as the Bears continued to circle the drain. What gives? Why did it happen? Just look at their front office.
Much was made about the Vikings' pivoting off the long-time head coach/general manager combo of Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman after 2021. That duo may have overstayed its welcome in the Twin Cities, but that era of Vikings football was respectable and consistently good. Now they are run by a so-so head coach in Kevin O'Connell and a very mediocre general manager in Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
While it remains to be seen if O'Connell is an issue, we are pointing the finger at the mess that Adofo-Mensah made. Either he wanted to blow this thing up more than a kid at a science far since day one like he is the next Sam Hinkie or he is just awful at his job. Regardless, let's just apply Hanlon's razor to the equation: Never mistake malice for incompetence. Let's just hope this gets them Caleb Williams...
Here are three GOB Bluth huge mistakes Adofo-Mensah has made since taking over the Vikings.
Minnesota Vikings: 3 huge mistakes GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has made
3. Hiring Kevin O'Connell over Jim Harbaugh may have been a bad idea
I don't know if this is the worst decision Adofo-Mensah made, but it could be the one that ends up costing him his job. O'Connell was the latest branch to sprout off the Sean McVay coaching tree. He was the Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator on the Super Bowl 56 championship roster, but we all know that was mostly in title; McVay calls the plays. O'Connell is fine, but he is not Jim Harbaugh...
Harbaugh briefly crossed paths when they worked for the San Francisco 49ers. Adofo-Mensah actually brought in the active Michigan head coach for a job interview during the second National Signing Day of the 2022 cycle. It was a bad look for Harbaugh, especially because he thought he was going to be handed over the job. This may have been a bad fit too, but Harbaugh refuses to lose now.
While he is dealing with a second scandal this season, Harbaugh could be one foot out the door in Ann Arbor. If the right opportunity presents itself, he could become an NFL head coach for a second time. One thing that Harbaugh does extraordinarily well is transform downtrodden programs into winners seemingly overnight. If he does leave the college game, an NFL job will be available to him.
By passing on Harbaugh in 2022, the Vikings may have to compete against him as soon as next year.
2. Allowing key contributors like Dalvin Cook and Adam Thielen to leave
It wasn't just Spielman and Zimmer who made the previous era of Vikings football so consistently strong. It was key contributors like running back Dalvin Cook and wide receiver Adam Thielen. While both are past their primes, you have to wonder losing them in the locker room has created some level of a leadership void. Kirk Cousins is a solid leader, but Cook and Thielen were dudes for them, bruh!
While their on-field production was probably never going to equate to what it was or has been, seeing Cook play for the flightless New York Jets and Thielen suit up for that bag of crap known as the Panthers cannot sit well with you. No matter how you feel about it, their departures have put more on the plates of Alexander Mattison and Justin Jefferson, respectively. Maybe they could have helped?
I get that Adofo-Mensah may want to build this thing as he sees fit, but he is losing a lot of support from the Vikings fanbase in how he is going about this. Cook and Thielen were massively popular players. Although selling jerseys is not the same thing as winning games, you cannot really sell the idea of draft picks to legions of this rabid fanbase. Until they draft Cousins' successor, they are toast.
Cook may be cooked and Minnesota might not be Thielen this, but they have a bad football team.
1. Doing business with the Detroit Lions in-division on multiple occasions
This is precisely why I have been out on Adofo-Mensah for the better part of two years now. He may have been new to the general manager game, but trading multiple times in-division with the Detroit Lions has me pulling all of my long, blonde hair out. Lions general manager Brad Holmes is exceptional at his job, and it seems like Adofo-Mensah has done everything he can to help him out.
When the Vikings made a trade with the Lions in the 2021 NFL Draft, you know, the one that allowed for Detroit to draft Jameson Williams in the teens and the Vikings to take Lewis Cine out of Georgia with the last pick of the first round because of the Jared Goff trade with the Rams, I was speechless. I understand the theory behind moving back, but you should never more back than a few spots ... ever.
Not only did Cine not play for the Vikings as a rookie due to injury, but Adofo-Mensah traded with the Lions again at a pivotal stretch for both teams. Yes, we all thought they acquired a better player in tight end T.J. Hockenson at the deadline. Shortly after the deal, Detroit caught on fire, man. Dan Campbell's Lions became a frickin' wagon after that man, Hockenson is fine, but the Lions are on fire!
If you want to keep your job, you have to beat your division rivals, not openly help them win games.
