The Minnesota Vikings‘ damage control in the aftermath of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s firing is only creating more controversy and questions about the team’s leadership.
Ben Goessling of the Minnesota Star Tribune reported on February 1 that, “had the Vikings kept the 12th pick in the 2022 NFL draft, sources said, they would have taken Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams.
“Instead, Adofo-Mensah traded back 20 spots in a deal with the Detroit Lions, who selected Williams while the Vikings took Georgia safety Lewis Cine,” Goessling added. “Cine played only 10 games in Minnesota without a start before his 2024 release, while the shortcomings of second-rounder Andrew Booth Jr. and fourth-rounder Akayleb Evans led the Vikings to pursue cornerback help through trades and free agency.”
While Adofo-Mensah’s decision to draft Cine and the additional picks not panning out was a blunder, correcting the record of what-ifs with Williams was taken as a serious oversight by many fans.
Vikings Fans Vent Frustration About Jameson Williams Leak
GettyLions wide receiver Jameson Williams
The best player available at No. 12 was not Williams.
It was Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton, who was selected by the Baltimore Ravens 14th overall and has since earned three Pro Bowl and two All-Pro mentions. Entering the 2025 season, Hamilton was ranked the No. 1 safety in the NFL by league scouts, executives and coaches in an ESPN poll.
Goessling’s report surfaced on the r/minnesotavikings Subreddit, which was met with frustration by fans who considered the Vikings still landed a capable No. 2 wide receiver in Jordan Addison with the No. 23 pick in the 2023 draft a year later.
The top-voted comment: “Why wouldn’t we have taken Kyle Hamilton?”
Considering Hamilton’s pedigree and how well the Vikings did selecting six-time Pro Bowler Harrison Smith out of Notre Dame in 2012, fans met the report with sarcasm.
“Just a horrible red flag. Notre Dame safeties have notoriously never been good,” one commenter wrote.
“Just no history of ND safeties becoming all-time fan favorites after 15 years of elite play and team loyalty,” another Redditor added.
There was some back and forth about positional value in drafting safety that high instead of a premier position like wide receiver — which would also put Adofo-Mensah to blame.
Regardless, if Williams was the Vikings’ top target with the No. 12 pick, the Vikings only added insult to injury by leaking that they traded the pick to a divisional rival and allowed that same team to select their top choice.
“If that is true, the logic doesn’t make any sense. Trading the pick to a division rival and letting them select the player you would’ve took if you didn’t trade. Wild decision-making,” a fan wrote.
“So the (front office) is even dumber than we thought,” another fan added.
Vikings Assigning Blame to Adofo-Mensah is Not Enough
As reports continue to surface about the Vikings’ lack of trust in Adofo-Mensah, the Vikings have not absolved themselves of blame for several brash decisions.
A source told Purple Insider’s Matthew Coller that the trade for Adam Thielen was closed by executive vice president Rob Brzezinski, who went over Adofo-Mensah and caved to giving up what amounted to a fourth-round pick for the sparingly used veteran receiver.
Another source of Coller’s said that the decision not to sign Aaron Rodgers could have been ownership’s hesitation due to fan backlash.
But what’s more clear is the chaos of the situation, with sources continuing to leak information that has become damaging to both sides.
Vikings Facing Backlash After Jameson Williams Leak