Getty ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the Vikings have hired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as their new general manager.
The Minnesota Vikings narrowing their list of general manager candidates down to two may be all but a formality.
After interviewing eight executives for the position, the Vikings extended second interview requests to Kansas City Chiefs vice president of player personnel Ryan Poles and Cleveland Browns vice president of football operations Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on Friday, January 21.
Both candidates will talk again with Minnesota this week. However, a recent report from Purple Insider Matthew Coller revealed that the Vikings have already wrapped up the position for Poles.
But whether Poles takes it remains to be seen.
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Poles Awaiting Offer With Bears
Few details of other candidate interviews have leaked to the public besides the Vikings’ meeting with Poles on Wednesday, January 19.
NFL insider Aaron Wilson reported that Poles “had an impressive interview with Minnesota Vikings, per league source.”
It was a leak that made Poles a clear favorite for the Vikings’ general manager opening that Coller corroborated after Minnesota made a second interview request with Poles.
Unfortunately, the Vikings weren’t the only team Poles impressed. He has a second interview for the general manager position with the Chicago Bears this week, which could put Minnesota in a bidding war for the prized executive.
“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,” Coller tweeted.
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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
Background on Poles
Courtesy of VikingsKansas City Chiefs Executive Director of Player Personnel Ryan Poles
A former offensive lineman at Boston College, Poles has climbed the NFL executive ranks mainly on the college scouting side.
Starting as a Chiefs player personnel assistant in 2009, Poles rose through the ranks of the college scouting department, becoming director in 2017 — the year the Chiefs gambled on Mahomes, who was deemed anywhere from a second-round talent to a late third-day pick by executives around the league. Poles survived two changes at general manager as one of the organization’s prized executives.
“I know him. I know his character. I’ve sat and broken bread with him. I know how hard he is willing to work,” Former Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka said of Poles, his college teammate, to Newsday. “I think he can do it. He’s well-equipped for the job. He is more than up to the challenge. He gets it, and I believe he would bring that to New York,” former Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka on Poles, his college teammate.
Don’t Count out Adofo-Mensah
While Poles appears to be the favorite to become the Vikings general manager, Adofo-Mensah has gained wide respect around the league.
A former commodities trader, Adofo-Mensah 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 Chicago Bears, which Adofo-Mensah also interviewed with, wrote.
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