The Minnesota Vikings decided to extend general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was a great one at the time and it looks even better as we head into training camp.
There is a lot that goes into a great general manager, and it's not quite as simple as the team being good or drafting well. There are a lot of nuances when it comes to that discussion, but we are getting more and more evidence by the day.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's contracts prove his brilliance
Over the course of the offseason, Adofo-Mensah has signed a lot of interesting contracts, including multiple extensions that have looked better over the course of time.
- CB Byron Murphy Jr.: 3 years, $54 million ($18 million Average Annual Value)
- EDGE Andrew Van Ginkel: 1 year, $23 million ($14.33 AAV)
- WR Justin Jefferson: 4 years, $140 million ($35 million AAV)
Those contracts at the time felt relatively large for the players, especially Jefferson's. However, recent deals have made those feel like bargains.
Let's start with Murphy's contract. Going into Tuesday morning, Murphy's deal was tied for 13th in the NFL for cornerbacks. Later in the day, the New York Jets extended Sauce Gardner to the tune of four years and $120.4 million. His average annual value is a whopping $12.1 million ahead of Murphy's, while their performances in 2024 were significantly closer to each other, as Murphy was a starter in the Pro Bowl Games.
The same goes for Van Ginkel. Now, his contract extension's AAV puts him in 10th in the NFL, but it's a one-year extension to make it a three-year deal that Adofo-Mensah wanted to sign him to initially. The AAV combined with his initial two-year, $20 million contract puts him at 23rd overall in the edge group, which is a steal for a second-team All Pro. When you look at the top of the market being Cleveland Browns' Myles Garrett at $40 million per year, it's quite a stark difference.
Jefferson's deal looks like an insane bargain right now, especially after Garrett Wilson signed a four-year, $130 million deal. It's just $10 million short of what Jefferson got, which is crazy to think about. Wilson is a great player in his own right, but he isn't anywhere close to Jefferson right now a couple tiers below him.
What these contracts show is Adofo-Mensah has done a great job in getting players inked on deals that become advantageous for the franchise. He projects well into the future and gets players inked on deals that are both good for the franchise and project to be quick bargains. These don't even include Will Fries having a contract of $17.54 million AAV when the Kansas City Chiefs just extended Trey Smith at a deal at $23.5 million AAV. Now, Fries still has a lot to prove, but that deal could prove quickly to be a bargain as well.
Now, the drafting issues are a fair criticism, but we have a ton of evidence that he's made the necessary changes to improve that over the last three NFL Drafts. The contracts that he's signing are proving to be even better as time goes on.
The Vikings have themselves a great general manager, and it feels so good.
