Vikings finalize deal with Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as new general manager

[Procus]

There's a couple of annoying trends in the NFL these days - prioritize hiring people with Ivy League degrees and who are under 40.  If they're black or Hispanic, so much the better.  Other qualifications such as blood, sweat and tears expended playing the game, staying in cheap motels on scouting runs, and otherwise paying your dues with proven finds time after time to demonstrate a good eye for talent seem to be much less important.  And while I'm on this rant, who the hell is Mina Kimes and why do I give a rat's ass what she thinks about football just because she's an under 40 non-white female graduate with honors from Yale.  I want to hear the graduate with Honors from the School of Hard Knocks.  Fancy shmancy Ivy League degrees do not correlate with success in the NFL.

As for the Vikings new hire .  Minny will soon experience what it's like first hand to poach the Brown's talent evaluation team and entrust a billion dollar franchise in such hands.

https://www.nfl.com/news/vikings-finalize-deal-with-kwesi-adofo-mensah-as-new-general-manager

Vikings finalize deal with Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as new general manager

Jan 26, 2022 at 10:31 AM

Nick Shook

Around The NFL Writer

What was expected is now reality in Minneapolis.

The Minnesota Vikings have finalized a deal with Browns executive Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to make him their next general manager, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported. Adofo-Mensah is signing for four years and $12 million, per NFL Network's Cameron Wolfe and Ian Rapoport.

Adofo-Mensah was one of two finalists for the opening, with Chiefs executive Ryan Poles being the other. When Poles took the GM job in Chicago, that essentially made the Vikings' decision for them.

Adofo-Mensah comes to Minnesota from Cleveland, where he's spent the last two seasons as the Browns' vice president of football operations, working under wunderkind GM Andrew Berry as part of an operation that saw the Browns to an 11-5 finish and their first playoff victory since the 1994 season in 2020. The story wasn't quite as sweet in 2021, as Cleveland finished a disappointing 8-9 while battling key injuries at multiple positions and struggling to ever get on track offensively.

Like the Harvard-educated Berry, Adofo-Mensah is also an Ivy League product, graduating from Princeton before beginning a career that started in San Francisco. Adofo-Mensah started as the 49ers' manager of football research before being promoted to director, and eventually moved east to Cleveland to join Berry's staff once the GM returned to the Browns following a one-year stint with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Adofo-Mensah was one of seven initial candidates for the opening, with Poles (Chiefs), Brandon Brown (Eagles), Glenn Cook (Browns), Catherine Raiche (Eagles), John Spytek (Buccaneers) and Eliot Wolf (Patriots) rounding out the group. He'll take over the position manned by Rick Spielman from 2012-2021.

First up on the list of duties for Adofo-Mensah: Find a new head coach to replace Mike Zimmer, who was fired after eight seasons with the Vikings.