Vikings Fire GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Amid Lingering Drake Maye What-Ifs
The Minnesota Vikings made a franchise-shaking move Friday, parting ways with general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. The timing?
Just weeks ahead of the NFL Draft. The decision leaves the Vikings without a GM during one of the most pivotal stretches of the offseason - a bold, if not risky, reset for a team still searching for answers under center.
Adofo-Mensah’s tenure was marked by inconsistency, especially in the draft room. But it’s not just the picks he made that are under the microscope - it’s the one he didn’t.
The Drake Maye Deal That Wasn’t
The Vikings had eyes on quarterback Drake Maye heading into the 2024 NFL Draft. They were aggressive in exploring a trade up to snag him, and by all accounts, they were close.
Very close. But when the New England Patriots asked for a king’s ransom, Adofo-Mensah reportedly balked.
That hesitation may have been the beginning of the end.
Reports from around the league have confirmed that Minnesota believed they had a deal in place the night before the draft. Head coach Kevin O’Connell was reportedly all-in on Maye - a quarterback he saw as a long-term answer. But the deal fell apart late, and Maye ended up in New England.
There’s been some back-and-forth on who actually pulled the plug. While initial whispers pointed to Adofo-Mensah backing out, later confirmations suggest it was the Patriots who ultimately walked away. Either way, the Vikings missed their shot - and that miss is looming larger by the day.
O’Connell’s QB Track Record and the Darnold Dilemma
Kevin O’Connell has shown he can work with quarterbacks. His one-year experiment with Sam Darnold last season proved that.
Darnold, long considered a reclamation project, found stability and structure under O’Connell’s watch. The results were encouraging - not elite, but enough to suggest a second act was possible.
But the Vikings didn’t commit. With draft capital already invested in J.J.
McCarthy, Minnesota wasn’t in position to offer Darnold a long-term deal. A one-year proposal was floated, but it wasn’t enough to keep him in purple.
Now, Darnold is starting for the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX, while Minnesota is back at square one.
O’Connell may be a quarterback whisperer, but even he can’t conjure magic out of mismatched personnel. The plan to pair him with McCarthy hasn’t yielded clarity - and the quarterback room remains unsettled heading into a critical offseason.
Maye's Meteoric Rise
While the Vikings watch the Super Bowl from home, Drake Maye will be on the biggest stage in football - leading the Patriots into the title game in just his second season. The 23-year-old topped the league with a 72.0% completion rate and posted a 31-touchdown, 8-interception stat line. He’s not just playing well - he’s starring.
With Mike Vrabel guiding the ship in New England, Maye has blossomed into a legitimate MVP candidate. He’s not just the future - he’s the present. And if he adds a Super Bowl ring to his résumé this weekend, the sting in Minnesota will only deepen.
A Franchise at a Crossroads
The Vikings are now without a general manager, without a clear direction at quarterback, and watching two former targets - Darnold and Maye - prepare to battle for a championship. The decision not to go all-in for Maye, whether it was Adofo-Mensah’s call or not, hangs over the organization like a cloud.
This is a team that believed it was close. A team that thought it had its quarterback of the future lined up. Instead, they’re left with questions, uncertainty, and a front office vacancy just weeks before the draft.
As Maye hoists trophies and Darnold suits up for the Super Bowl, Minnesota is left wondering what might have been - and trying to figure out what comes next.