The Minnesota Vikings stunned the NFL on Jan. 30 by firing general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah following their failure to reach the playoffs in the 2025 NFL season.
Sources told ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter that the team had experienced ongoing tension during the season, and a league source described the environment in Minnesota as “ugly.”
Nonetheless, ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes questions the influence that Sam Darnold reaching the Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks had on this decision, given that the Vikings’ season ended a couple of weeks ago and they held their end-of-season meetings.
“I’m surprised, not surprised by the decision, but surprised by the timing,” Kimes said on the Jan. 30 edition of “NFL Live.” “That’s what’s shocking here, right? Because Viking season ended weeks ago. They had their meetings back then, sent him to the Senior Bowl. Apparently, the timing makes me think this is reactive to Sam Darnold being in the Super Bowl. It’s hard not to feel that way. Now, as far as whether that’s fair, I don’t think that’s fair.”
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Did Deserve to Be Fired
Nonetheless, Kimes feels that Adofo-Mensah did deserve to be fired, not for the Darnold decision, but for the whiffs he had in the draft during his tenure as Vikings general manager.
“I think it is fair, however, to criticize the draft classes, and those have been shared widely [after his firing],“ Kimes added. “The Vikings have had a lot of misses in the draft, none greater, of course, than the pick of J.J. McCarthy, their quarterback. I know it’s too soon to say that completely, but obviously, the early results are not promising. There’s nothing wrong with moving off of a veteran quarterback who struggled at the end of the season and drafting a rookie in the first round.
“It has worked for a lot of teams, but you have to hit on that rookie. And more so than hit on that rookie, guys, if they had even gotten average quarterback play out of the rookie, I frankly think that he would still have his job, but it was far from that. And that’s how you end up in this position. You can’t miss on the most important position in the game.”
J.J. McCarthy Gets Blame for Vikings Firing GM
Moreover, sports media host Jim Rome didn’t hold back on the reasons Adofo-Mensah was fired, but he put most of the blame on starting QB J.J. McCarthy, whom the former Vikings general manager selected as the team’s franchise signal-caller.
“The truth is, [McCarthy] in and of himself did not get his GM fired,“ Rome said on the Jan. 30 edition of “The Jim Rome Show.“ “He didn’t do it alone. Now, he had help, and he had something to do with it, but he had help. Sam Darnold helped. Daniel Jones’ amazing start to the season helped. Aaron Rodgers leading the [Pittsburgh] Steelers to the playoffs helped.
“So it’s not all on J.J., but it’s mostly on J.J. because the biggest problem facing the Vikings right now is that they still have an uncertain future at quarterback. They had all these quarterbacks go through there, and they still have no quarterback. And the rumors this week about bringing in Mac Jones clearly did not set ownership’s hair on fire or help J.J. They’re not even positive what they have in ‘Nine‘ because ‘Nine‘ can’t even stay on the field.”
Vikings Receive Blunt Sam Darnold Message After Firing GM