Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was asked in an off-season interview about his team-building philosophy. The Vikings’ new general manager answered by addressing the riskiness of going all-in on a season.
“If it were a seven-game series, yeah, best team wins,” he said. “That’s ultimately why when you’re team building, you never want to go full Rams. Because you need to give yourself three chances at it, four years at it. I know that’s hard for fans to hear.”
Adofo-Mensah, having raised a few eyebrows with his comments, ended up walking back the quote by saying “that was probably not the best turn of phrase,” and, adding, “I have a great deal of respect for the Rams.”
He should.
The Rams have never been afraid to deal draft picks for veteran talent — they acquired Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen Ramsey from Jacksonville in October 2019 for first-round picks in 2020 and ’21 and a fourth-rounder in 2021 — and also were in the bidding to obtain Christian McCaffrey from Carolina before the 49ers finally closed the trade for the running back.
The philosophy of general manager Les Snead and coach Sean McVay has been that worrying about the future is overrated when there is a chance to win in the present. That approach resulted in a Super Bowl title last season for Los Angeles, but Adofo-Mensah saw the drawbacks.
That was before the Vikings got off to a 5-1 start, including 3-0 in the division, to take control of the NFC North and before it became clear that other than the Philadelphia Eagles there is no team in the NFC that is clearly better than the Vikings. There are many that are worse.
With the NFL trade deadline approaching a week from Tuesday, one has to wonder if Adofo-Mensah and ownership has changed its view and made a decision that getting first-year coach Kevin O’Connell some immediate help might give the Vikings a chance at ending a Super Bowl drought that dates to Super Bowl XI on Jan. 9, 1977.
The Vikings, who will play the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium after returning from their bye week, are a flawed team that still has found ways to win.
While Adofo-Mensah might have reservations about trading draft picks, O’Connell spent the past two seasons as the offensive coordinator for the Rams. It pains most NFL GMs to part with high draft picks, but the Rams haven’t picked in the first round since 2016, aren’t set to do it again until 2024. O’Connell saw that aggressiveness work.
Matthew Stafford, the Rams’ Super Bowl winning quarterback last season, came over in a blockbuster offseason deal that sent two first-rounders (2022 and 2023) to the Detroit Lions. The Rams acquired linebacker Von Miller from Denver at the trade deadline last year for second- and third-round selections in the 2022 draft. Miller played a key role for the Rams before signing with the Bills during the offseason.
So could O’Connell influence Adofo-Mensah to decide there’s no time like the present to add a wide receiver, a defensive tackle, a defensive end or a tight end? The Vikings likely could acquire help for a second-day pick, enabling them to hold onto their first-rounder.
We recently wrote about the possibility of the Vikings getting in on the bidding for veteran free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who is expected to return from a torn ACL suffered in the Super Bowl in late November or early December. Beckham figures to join a team with a legitimate shot at the Super Bowl, putting teams such as the Bills and Chiefs in the mix. The Rams also continue to want him back.
The Vikings’ issue is they have an NFL-low $851,678 in salary-cap space per Over the Cap, but room can be created through contract restructures. If there’s concern about Beckham’s knee, or the Vikings don’t think they can get him, it would become more likely that Adofo-Mensah would explore the trade market. That’s if he hasn’t been doing it already.
Wide receiver comes to mind as a possibility because landing a speedster to play opposite Justin Jefferson could give the Vikings more of a vertical passing game than they have shown. One potential trade partner could be the Denver Broncos, who are 2-5 after losing Sunday to the New York Jets.
Broncos general manager George Paton was Rick Spielman’s assistant in Minnesota for many years and is no stranger to many Vikings officials. Broncos players reportedly on the block include linebacker Bradley Chubb and wide receivers Jerry Jeudy and K.J. Hamler. Jeudy has 24 catches for 386 yards and two touchdowns; Hamler has only five receptions for 113 yards. Both Jeudy and Hamler are playing under their rookie contracts and are signed through 2023.
Those are just some possibilities, but the Vikings’ reality is that in a season in which they committed to a “competitive rebuild,” there appears to be an opportunity to make an unexpected run. Bringing in outside help — at the cost of draft picks — might not be such a flawed idea after all.
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Judd Zulgad is co-host of the Purple Daily Podcast and Mackey & Judd podcast at www.skornorth.com