We thought that they were going to give him another year. However, the Minnesota Vikings officially fired GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on Friday.
The news came as a shock. Not only was the general consensus that Adofo-Mensah would get another year, it took the Vikings a long time to make the decision, relative to other firing and hiring cycles around the league.
It took weeks for it to come, but Adofo-Mensah has officially been put out of the Twin Cities.
Vikings Fire GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah
GettyINGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 23: General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah of the Minnesota Vikings looks on before the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium on October 23, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)
The initial report came from ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Friday afternoon. He put it simply.
“Source: Vikings fired GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.”
ESPN‘s Kevin Seifert added some context.
“There have been rumors for weeks about this, even after Kwesi Adofo-Mensah gave his postseason press conference on Jan. 13. He has been at the Senior Bowl this week. Every time I’ve checked, I’ve been told there were no plans to make changes. This was a (very) recent decision.”
Schefter then added some further remarks.
“Throughout the season, there was talk about an underlying “tension” in the Vikings’ building in league circles. One league source said it had been “ugly” in Minnesota. Then today, the Vikings fired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.”
Minnesota Decides To Go in a Different Direction
GettyMINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – NOVEMBER 12: General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah of the Minnesota Vikings before the game against the New Orleans Saints at U.S. Bank Stadium on November 12, 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)
There’s probably not a lot of things that culminated into the firing of Adofo-Mensah.
The two major reasons seem clear; the Darnold/McCarthy situation and the Vikings’ poor drafting ability since 2022.
The success of Darnold and struggles of McCarthy likely fueled the fire of the reported animosity behind the scenes in the relationship between Adofo-Mensah and the Vikings. Minnesota has also lacked a decent amount of good young talent, with players like Jalen Redmond and Levi Drake Rodriguez being scout team or Brian Flores decisions.
It is also likely that Adofo-Mensah didn’t agree with the direction the rest of the organization wanted to go at the QB position this offseason. He himself has preached the importance of collaboration, and if that broke down, then someone has to go.
EVP Rob Brzezinski Named Interim GM
It looks like Kevin O’Connell will be sticking around, as there have been no reports of fractures between him and the rest of the organization. This is all speculation, but a lot of it seems clear in the demeanors of the two men during their end-of-season pressers.
The Vikings are now incredibly late in the search for a new general manager. For now, they will roll with EVP Rob Brzezinski as interim GM through the draft. It is assumed Brzezinski will go back to his EVP role when a new GM is hired, if one is at all.
If a new one from outside is hired, it’s important to note; the new general manager will have no allegiance to QB J.J. McCarthy or Jordan Addison.
Vikings Fire GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah