Getty Ziggy Wilf
The Minnesota Vikings are finalizing their hire for general manager.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday, via Twitter, that Cleveland Browns vice president of football operations Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is expected to be hired.
“The #Vikings are now expected to work to hire #Browns executive Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as their next GM, sources say. He’s the final finalist and they have been interviewing him again.”
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ESPN’s Courtney Cronin added that “Adofo-Mensah is meeting with various departments in Minnesota today and (is) scheduled to be done with his in person interview round before 5 pm. If he’s the guy for the Vikings, which it certainly looks like, Minnesota would be hard pressed to let him leave w/out an offer.”
Other GM Finalist Visiting Chicago
The Vikings’ other finalist for general manager, Kansas City Chiefs vice president of player personnel Ryan Poles, was reported as the Vikings’ favorite for the general manager position.
“From a few conversations I had this morning, my understanding is that the Vikings want Ryan Poles to be their next GM but it might depend on whether Chicago makes him a better offer. So we wait and see,” Purple Insider’s Matthew Coller tweeted on Saturday, January 23.
The Bears seem sold on Poles, which may have prompted the Vikings to pivot to Adofo-Mensah. Bears chairman George McCaskey was spotted picking Poles up in person at the Chicago O’Hare airport on January 24.
@kapjhood @CarmenDeFalco @WaddleandSilvy @ESPN1000
Couldn’t help but notice Ryan Poles being met at O’Hare baggage claim this evening by his potential future employer.
After learning of Poles expected to be in Chicago, Cronin speculated that the Vikings’ interview with the Chiefs executive might be a forgone matter.
“Ryan Poles was supposed to interview in Minnesota tomorrow (Wednesday, January 26) as one of two GM finalists. With him headed to Chicago, Browns VP Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who is interviewing in Minnesota today, is the favorite for the Vikings GM job,” Cronin tweeted.
Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press reported that Poles accepted Chicago’s offer to hire him as general manager on Tuesday.
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Adofo-Mensah’s Background
A former day trader, Adofo-Mensah, 40, made a career change, landing his first NFL job in 2013 as the San Francisco 49ers’ manager of football research and development before being promoted to the director of the same department in 2016.
He led the 49ers’ push to “develop and implement advanced quantitative methods for game strategy and personnel evaluation,” the Bears, which Adofo-Mensah also interviewed with, wrote.
Adofo-Mensah helped rebuild the 49ers franchise that parted ways from Jim Harbaugh in 2015. Promoted to director of football research and development, Adofo-Mensah helped the team piece together a Super Bowl-caliber roster without a top-tier quarterback in Jimmy Garoppolo.
When the Browns hired general manager Andrew Berry last season, Berry made an initiative to steal Adofo-Mensah from the 49ers staff by promoting him to vice president of football operations with the Browns.
Adofo-Mensah played basketball and graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor’s degree in economics and later received his master’s degree from Stanford.
Berry spoke highly of Adofo-Mensah in a recent Chicago Tribune article:
No. 1, it’s his general cognitive abilities. He’s a super, super bright guy, and that comes across within the first two minutes that you meet him.
No. 2, and probably just as importantly, it’s just people skills. You could see how he had been able to build relationships across a number of different groups during his time at San Francisco in a role that can be very challenging, because you have to be able to not only develop (analytic) insights, but communicate them and get people to buy in. And then the other thing was just his breadth of understanding of the sport and football operations. So even though he had formally just led the 49ers’ research group, you could tell that he understood team building, people, relationships and managerial skills at a much higher level.
Poles’ practical experience as a former football player has appeal, but that shouldn’t take away from Adofo-Mensah, who’s more than just an analytics guy, according to ESPN’s Kimberley A. Martin.
“Kwesi Adofo-Mensah isn’t just an analytics guy… In CLE he (and Glenn Cook) are viewed by (Berry) as asst GMs. Kwesi A-M has scouting + contract management experience and helps AB w/all big decisions The dude *knows* football. #Vikings.”
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah ISN’T *just* an✌🏾analytics guy✌🏾 …In CLE, he (and Glenn Cook) are viewed by GM Andrew Berry as asst GMs.
Kwesi A-M has scouting + contract management experience and helps AB w/ all big decisions. The dude *knows* football. #Vikings