Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah shares thoughtful insight on teambuilding that explains his track record

We are firmly in the offseason now for the Minnesota Vikings. They successfully navigated free agency and the NFL Draft by adding a lot of very talented players with a major focus on the trenches.

General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah elevated the foundation of the roster with six major additions in the trenches. With the free agency moves the Vikings made, they had one common thread: injuries.

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah gives insight on process

It's interesting that Adofo-Mensah has been targeting injured players, but it makes a lot of sense when you hear him talk about it. Adofo-Mensah made an appearance with Paul Allen on KFAN where they discussed how he goes about trying to find value. One of the elements is injuries, but the other is projecting players forward.

"Old job was connecting the dots and trying to sometimes see what's there that might not be obvious. You know, you don't get a chance to buy the stock or the commodity, whatever I was trading, where it's obvious, where we know why the prices are going to be high, the supply and demand makes it sense, or this company's got all these earnings, like, you don't get the chance to buy Amazon when Amazon's already the biggest company in the world. You already take the chance in them when they're not making any money, right? And that's no different than evaluating a player, we pride ourselves in being glass half full, and trying to see what players can do, and we try and connect the dots."

The context of the above comment was talking mainly about Andrew Van Ginkel, who got rewarded with a contract extension. When the Vikings signed him initially to a two-year, $20 million contract, he was coming off of a Lisfranc injury that limited him during his final season with the Miami Dolphins. 

Coming from the world of Wall Street, Adofo-Mensah understands how to evaluate an asset that has yet to fully appreciate and project it forward. Being able to do so this well is a key factor in the Vikings having taken a step forward over the last three years.a