The Minnesota Vikings have made their first crucial decision aimed at getting back to the playoffs. Following the firing of Rick Spielman, the organization has hired former Browns VP of football operations to become the Vikings general manager.
Adofo-Mensah conducted his second interview with the team on Tuesday and ended up staying overnight in the Twin Cities. We even overheard a Vikings team official telling KAM they’d cancel his flight late last night, an indication they planned to hire him today.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter the hiring of Adofo-Mensah is official. Adofo-Mensah signed on the dotted line, becoming the latest GM for the Vikes. Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network adds that it’s a 4-year, $12 million contract.
Adofo-Mensah faces tall tasks with Minnesota Vikings
Now that he’s officially on the case, Adofo-Mensah can begin focusing on making his first head coach hiring. As we know, the Vikings have interviewed several candidates and now that KAM is on the job, we could see some new interview requests take place too.
So far, Adofo-Mensah has been most closely linked to DeMeco Ryans from their time together in San Francisco. A former linebacker, Ryans is seen as a rising star in coaching circles and could be on track to land his first head coaching opportunity just seven years after his playing career wrapped up.
Though Ryans is expected to receive true consideration, the Vikings head coaching search remains wide open. There’s also 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, who’s interviewed with the Dolphins.
Perhaps the most interesting name with known ties is current Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, who also worked in the same organization as Adofo-Mensah in San Francisco. Landing Harbaugh would be a massive get for the Vikings.
Once Adofo-Mensah settles on a head coach, next will be clearing some cap room and deciding whether quarterback Kirk Cousins should stay or go. It should be an interesting offseason in the North Star State.
