The Minnesota Vikings let go of general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in a surprising move last week.
And in the wake of said move, multiple reports came out about the alleged animosity between Adofo-Mensah and current head coach, Kevin O’Connell – some of which supposedly stemmed from the decision to draft and keep quarterback JJ McCarthy, who struggled in his first season as a starter in the NFL, ahead of the now-Super Bowl-participating QB, Sam Darnold, who was subsequently allowed to walk.
However, according to one NFL Network’s leading reporters and league insiders, Tom Pelissero, the reports toxicity between O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah are fundamentally not true – and he articulated as such whilst on The Rich Eisen Show on February 3.
Why did the @Vikings make a move at GM last week? And why now for an offseason shakeup?
#NFL #SuperBowl #SKOLPelissero noted that the Vikings made a similar offer to Darnold as the Seattle Seahawks‘, but that the former second overall pick ultimately chose Seattle due to the fact he would be the unimpeded, unquestioned starting quarterback, with no future replacement – like McCarthy – waiting in the wings.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell Are Friends – Pelissero
But ideas that O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah had different plans on what to do with the former 10th overall pick, and that they had a “toxic” relationship – according to Pelissero – are totally unfounded.
“I’ve seen other complete nonsense out there, quite frankly, this week that they were getting ready to trade JJ McCarthy and Kwesi pulled the plug. That there was a toxic environment between Kwesi and Kevin. None of that is true.” Pelissero said on Eisen’s show on Tuesday.
“Kevin O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah are friends. They never had a personal issue. There were things they did not see eye-t0-eye on, they had disagreements. Certainly the way things played out at the quarterback position was not ideal for anyone.” Pelissero continued.
Adofo-Mensah Fired Due to Current State of the Team
Instead, Pelissero argues that Adofo-Mensah’s dismissal actually stemmed from the team’s unenviable salary cap situation and his poor draft record as GM.
“When it came down to the firing of Kwesi, it was a lot of different things in totality. They don’t have a quarterback answer, they have a salary cap issue that they have to clean up. The drafts on the whole – there were certainly hits in there…there have been good picks, there have been some that didn’t work out.”
And, at the end of the day, it seems that the ownership group decided that there was “not a path forward” for the former Vikings general manager and his team, so decided to move in a different direction moving forward.
The kicker of all this does seem to be the lack of a truly viable franchise quarterback operating under center for Minnesota.
Had McCarthy come out in 2025 and looked like even something approaching talented rookie and 2025 first overall pick, Cam Ward in his rookie year – who still only went 3-14 in year one – there is a far greater chance that the former Cleveland Browns executive would have kept his job in 2026 and potentially beyond.
Toxicity Between Vikings Head Coach and Ex-GM ‘Nonsense’