It was a nod to one of the Minnesota Vikings’ greatest victories since he’s been the general manager. It was also a reminder. You do not storm back from a five-touchdown deficit with one throw, one run, one turnover. The response builds methodically. It may not feel like it, but time usually is on your side.
Adofo-Mensah believed the lesson applied to his own role. He has talked about trying to fill all of his team’s holes at once. For as process-oriented and probability-inclined as he is, Adofo-Mensah has not been immune to making some head-scratching decisions under pressure.
Scribbling the score of the Colts game from 2022 speaks to his awareness of that, and so do the comments he made Thursday at his annual pre-NFL Draft news conference.
“We want to be in a place where we’re proactive and not reactive,” he said.
The Vikings wanted to position themselves so that they don’t have to force anything at No. 24. To an extent, they’ve done that. They addressed the interior offensive line and the interior defensive line in free agency. They paid Byron Murphy Jr., removing cornerback from being a huge need. They even acquired running back Jordan Mason via trade so as not to be pigeonholed into a prospect at a less-than-optimal spot in the draft.
Nothing suggests Minnesota has to operate a particular way in the draft. Would the staff prefer to have more than four picks? Yes. Would they like to supplement the trenches with youth? Certainly. Are receiver and running back still sensible positions to fortify with Jalen Nailor and Ty Chandler both in the final seasons of their rookie contracts? Absolutely. The Vikings have positioned themselves to do these things at their leisure.
But there is one fairly large caveat: The draft does not care about one’s leisure.
Planning only goes so far. You can concoct a draft board and go through simulations, but those are just study guides for the ultimate test of reactivity. The television spectacle amplifies the stress of the moment. The boss eyes every call. One minute, you think the player you covet is yours. Next, you are faced with the unexpected.
This is how the irrational becomes rational, but that’s not an excuse, and Adofo-Mensah doesn’t want to make any.
Last year, when invoking the win over the Colts, he admitted to trying to get everything back at once. When he and head coach Kevin O’Connell arrived in 2022, they were handed an aging roster and an overextended salary cap. Several positions had been left bare. Trying to plug multiple leaks at once that spring, Adofo-Mensah executed two trades for four picks in the top 70. Only one of those picks remains on the roster: linebacker Brian Asamoah, who mostly contributes on special teams.
“What you don’t want to do is try and solve all of the issues at once,” Adofo-Mensah said. “You just don’t want to be in a rush to get to that end goal. You just really want to be deliberate in your process.”
A similarly fascinating draft night decision came last spring. Having already selected quarterback J.J. McCarthy at No. 10, the Vikings traded up six spots from No. 23 to No. 17 for edge rusher Dallas Turner. What was the draft capital required to complete the trade? In total, two second-round picks, a third-rounder, a fifth-rounder and a sixth-rounder.
If the Vikings’ 2022 draft was analogous to the Colts game, last year felt like a game in which the team had a lead but tried to run up the score. The deal seemed out of character at the time for an executive as in tune with pick value as Adofo-Mensah, and he even referenced this in the moment.
“I’m a spreadsheet guy myself,” he said, “but sometimes you’ve got to step out from there, take your Clark Kent glasses off, have a championship mindset and swing for a great player.”
Turner’s lack of impact in 2024 frames this deal in a negative way, but it’s a worthwhile conversation point because it is largely why the Vikings only have four picks in next week’s draft. When asked to revisit the trade Thursday, Adofo-Mensah stood by the strategy.
“We talk about two-year horizons,” Adofo-Mensah said. “You never know, but we don’t want to be picking in the top third of the first round. Are these opportunities available in your future? Are we going to be able to pick a player like this in the future if we’re the team we think we can be? These are all things that went into the calculus. (We) don’t know how that answer is going to work out.”
Essentially, the Vikings viewed Turner as the kind of talent they would not be able to draft if they succeeded the way they had envisioned. Turner’s development (or lack thereof) will put the definitive stamp on that decision. In the meantime — and as a result of this recent past — the Vikings are entering the draft with another first-round trade possibility.
Should the Vikings trade back from No. 24? Or, should they stick and pick? Adofo-Mensah wouldn’t wade into the team’s preference, but he described the question as a discussion of quality versus quantity. As is evidenced by his own decision-making over the last three years, he understands the rationale in all potential paths.
His history also tells us something else. The best move is probably the one that makes him feel the least like a hero.