Tag: Kwesi Adofo-Mensah

ESPN sees Sam Darnold as a highly coveted free agent in 2025

When ESPN wrote about the upcoming free agent class, they ranked the players, and Sam Darnold came in rather high compared to others. 

The Minnesota Vikings have benefited from Sam Darnold’s play this year. He is set to be a free agent since he signed a one-year deal with the team this offseason.

When ESPN wrote about the upcoming free agent class, they ranked the players, and Sam Darnold came in rather high compared to others.

Matt Bowen wrote that Darnold should be a rather popular quarterback option for teams. He writes, “With his arm strength and mobility, Darnold will have options on the market if he can produce over the second half of the season.” He has shown his year he can be more than a bridge quarterback; the money he earns this Spring could also reflect that.

However, on the note of being a bridge, Jeremy Fowler writes that “Darnold and Minnesota are 7-2 together, so entertaining a bridge deal while the team continues to develop McCarthy behind the scenes shouldn’t be completely off the table.”

If Darnold were to return, McCarthy and his knee would be in a completely different situation to justify it.

Two Vikings rookies mentioned by The Athletic’s All-Rookie team

The Athletic recognized the work of General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on Wednesday.

The 2024 NFL Draft has proven to have a larger impact than many expected following the injury to J.J. McCarthy. Despite losing their first-round quarterback, the draft class has produced several reliable players for the team.

The Athletic recognized the work of General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on Wednesday.

Dane Brugler wrote up his selection for his midseason All-Rookie team, and two Vikings made the cut: first-round pick Dallas Turner and sixth-round pick Will Reichard. Turner has started to play more in recent weeks, including in Week 9 against the Colts. Reichard, meanwhile, has emerged as one of the more reliable kickers in the NFL.

Reichard did not miss a kick all season until Week 9, though his misses against the Colts could be blamed on a quad injury he suffered.

Turner had been struggling to find playing time with the depth the Vikings have at edge rusher, but he may finally be earning the coaching staff’s trust.

Could Andrew Van Ginkel win the Defensive Player of the Year Award?

The Defensive Player of the Year award was considered a virtual lock for Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson before his brutal knee injury.

The Defensive Player of the Year award was considered a virtual lock for Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson before his brutal knee injury. Since his injury, we have discussed a handful of defensive players, minus one that deserves it.

Andrew Van Ginkel has been playing as well as any defender in the NFL.

Despite that, no one has been highlighting his performance this year. The entire Vikings defense has been playing well as a unit, so it is easy to blend in, but his work needs to be highlighted.

Through six games, Andrew Van Ginkel has 26 total tackles, six tackles for a loss, five sacks, two interceptions, and two defensive touchdowns. If his name was Fred Warner, T.J. Watt, or Myles Garrett, he would be a national star this year.

Sooner or later, if he keeps playing this way, folks around the NFL will be forced to take notice. For now, he will remain a free agent steal for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and a menace for Brian Flores in his defense.

The trade terms for Cam Akers should sound familiar to Vikings fans

The team traded for running back Cam Akers, ironically, the reported trade price for him on Tuesday should sound familiar to Vikings fans. 

The Vikings made a quiet but important move on Tuesday when the team traded for running back Cam Akers. The former Florida State Seminole has been around the league and has shown that he can find traction for several teams.

Ironically, the reported trade price for Akers on Tuesday should sound familiar to Vikings fans.

The team saw its offense sputter some without Aaron Jones, so Akers proved to be a nice insurance policy. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah knew he could get Akers for cheap because he did so in 2023. As it turns out, his trade value has remained the same since then.

In 2023, Akers was acquired by the Vikings for a 2026 conditional sixth-round pick to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for Akers and a 2026 conditional seven-round pick.

It was nearly identical terms used to acquire him on Tuesday.

With Aaron Jones injured, Akers could see a big role immediately in a matchup with the Lions on the horizon. Sam Darnold relies upon the running game to keep his passing options open, so it will be interesting to see how Kevin O’Connell utilizes him on a short week.

ESPN predicts which Vikings player will see a contract extension next

ESPN discussed this week that his work and the potential for another extension for a player might be on the way.

Some, myself included, have questioned Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s work, but his work with contracts is unmatched. He does a great job finding the building blocks for a franchise and not letting them go.

What more could a fanbase ask for?

ESPN discussed this week that his work and the potential for another extension for a player might be on the way. The player for said projected extension was Camryn Bynum. The former California cornerback turned safety has had a breakout role under Brian Flores the last two seasons.

Jeremy Fowler writes, “Bynum discussed an extension in recent months but couldn’t reach an agreement. As of now, he is set to enter free agency. He’s thriving in Brian Flores’ defense, with two interceptions, five pass deflections and a fumble recovery. Making splash plays in a contract year is a way to nudge the team back to the negotiation table. . .”

Bynum coming back will be a big-time decision, but with Harrison Smith being 36 years old and Lewis Cine being gone, perhaps this makes for a no-brainer move.

Vikings extend DL Harrison Phillips with a two-year deal

Phillips is being rewarded in the form of job and financial security as the team has signed him to a two-year extension.

The Minnesota Vikings entered the 2024 season with some questions about their defensive line, and on Sunday, Harrison Phillips reminded everyone he had things covered.

As a result of what he did, plus his work last year with the team, Phillips is being rewarded. That reward is coming in the form of job and financial security as the team has signed him to a two-year extension worth up to $19 million.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reported that the deal includes a guaranteed amount of $13 million.

Phillips came to the Vikings in 2022, signing a three-year deal after playing for the Buffalo Bills. This deal now extends his tenure with the team through the 2026 season.

He has emerged as a leader on defense, both on and off the field. His teammates have voted him captain and honored him as the team’s representative as their Walter Payton Man of the Year.

His captaincy should continue to thrive while he mans the middle of Brian Flores’ defense. Both Flores and Phillips have proven to be a dream pairing, and they hope it is a relationship that will continue to be two-way for years to come.

ESPN predicts how the Vikings 2024 season will go and it’s not great

The football power index and Seth Walder of ESPN published the results this week, which were unfavorable to the Vikings.

There is nothing that spurs a conversation into overdrive like a computer’s season prediction. We got rid of the BCS in college football, and since then, we have seen so many different projection methods and forms of analysis pop up in its place.

The latest is ESPN’s FPI.

The football power index predicts an NFL team’s winning percentage of games on its schedule. Seth Walder of ESPN published the results this week, which were unfavorable to the Vikings.

“The result? A paltry four-win season. But with the losing came hope in the form of the No. 1 overall pick. With their quarterback already in hand — J.J. McCarthy is the QB of the future here, despite his right meniscus tear — the Vikings enter the offseason in position to deal the No. 1 pick to a QB-needy team for a series of selections that will bolster the roster for an immediate turnaround. The present is bleak in Minnesota, but the future is bright.”

That’s right, folks. The Vikings are predicted to have the worst record in the NFL and earn the top pick in the NFL draft.

As Walder mentions here, that actually is a good thing for the Vikings in the long term. They can trade the first pick overall for a king ransom and recover picks in the 2025 NFL Draft while also getting some for 2026 and potentially even 2027.

This roster is not built to win right now without J.J. McCarthy. They have the right players locked up long-term, and they can build around McCarthy for a strong 2026. If this happens, it won’t be very nice but there may finally be light on the other side.

Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah hints the 2022 NFL Draft has shaped his approach

Vikings general manager was asked what that draft meant for him, and he gave a very honest answer.

The 2022 NFL Draft was challenging for several teams as their draft picks didn’t pan out. For the Minnesota Vikings, the 2022 NFL Draft is one they would like to forget, at least the first two rounds,

This offseason, they turned the page on both of their first two draft picks by releasing one and trading another.

Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth Jr. were both sent away this offseason, creating a fog around General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. He had just accepted the general manager role in January of that year, so folks are quick not to hold that draft against him, while others see it as no excuse.

During his media availability, the Vikings general manager was asked what that draft meant for him, and he gave a very honest answer.

“I would say that everything that I do in the future has some relevance to what I’ve done in the past. These are things I have thought about for a long period of time. . .more specific to what types of decisions you need to make. . asking, ‘Hey, where can you go get those players?’ There’s other teams with third-fourth round picks on different practice squads.”

The brutal honesty was refreshing from an NFL general manager, let alone one who has such brutal misses as the start of his tenure. Learning from things and adapting the next time you are presented goes a long way to finding success.

The 2024 NFL Draft will serve as a potential of how Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has learned from his previous mistakes.

Vikings only favored in two games in 2024 in latest ESPN projections

Once rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy went down the for year, everyone took a step back and realized it was going to be different in 2024.

The Minnesota Vikings are expected to be in for a long season by more than one definition of the word. Once rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy went down the for year, everyone took a step back and realized it would be different in 2024.

The difference was that expectations dropped significantly, and so did win projections for the team.

Mike Clay of ESPN published his latest projections for the 2024 season. Within those is a bunch of functional data that we suggest looking at, but we want to focus on one thing specifically: projected win percentage.

That stat has the Vikings projected to be favored in just two wins in the 2024 NFL season.

These two games are the opener against the New York Giants in Week 1 and the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13. The Cardinals are an exciting projection, as Jonathon Gannon has proven to be a great coach who can get the most out of his players.

Coaches Kevin O’Connell and Brian Flores will have their work cut out for them this season. More significantly, it will be a significant year for General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, as 2025 is the last year on his contract.

The Vikings 2022 draft class has not gone the way Minnesota’s then-rookie GM hoped

The Vikings 2022 draft class has not gone the way Minnesota’s then-rookie GM, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah hoped, with the top two picks gone already

The New York Jets announced they have signed Lewis Cine to the team’s practice squad. Cine jumps to the Jets after the team that drafted the Georgia safety in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings, pulled the plug on the Lewis Cine experiment.

It’s a frustrating ending to the draft marriage between Cine and the Vikings, one that was quite positively viewed back at in 2022. A devastating leg injury ruined Cine’s rookie season, and he’s never recovered enough for the liking of Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. Cine played in 10 total games in Minnesota, logging exactly one snap per game on defense. No other team claimed Cine on waivers this week.

Cine was the first-ever pick for Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, then a rookie general manager running his initial draft. Obviously, the injury to Cine was unforeseeable, but that whole first draft class from Adofo-Mensah in Minnesota has not gone as planned back in 2022.

1st round, S Lewis Cine: Waived at the 2024 roster deadline.

2nd round, CB Andrew Booth: Traded to Dallas earlier this summer. Two starts in 23 games over two seasons, 20 total tackles and one PD.

2nd round, OG Ed Ingram: Started 32 games at right guard and will continue to start for Minnesota.

3rd round, LB Brian Asamoah: Zero starts, plays almost exclusively on special teams

4th round, CB Akayleb Evans: Started 32 games and coming off a season where he notched 65 tackles, 7 PDs and forced three fumbles.

5th round, DT Esezi Otomewo: Waived after playing 89 snaps on defense as a rookie,

5th round, RB Ty Chandler: Ran for 461 yards and 3 TDs in 2023 while also catching 21 passes. He’ll be the No. 2 RB behind Aaron Jones in 2024.

6th round, OL Vederian Lowe: Traded during the 2023 roster cutdowns to the Patriots for a 2024 6th-round pick.

6th round, WR Jalen Nailor: 12 catches for 208 yards and a TD in 15 games thus far, though Nailor is poised to see the field more in 2024.

7th round, TE Nick Muse: Two offensive snaps in 2023, caught one pass for 12 yards in two years.

Ingram, Evans and Chandler ease some of the sting of those top two picks not working out, but teams that miss on premium picks are always at a major disadvantage. That’s been the development for Adofo-Mensah’s first draft class.