The Minnesota Vikings’ search for a new general manager has taken a more deliberate path, if that’s the right term, beginning with the decision to fire Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in late January and put off a search for a new GM until after the draft, naming EVP of Football Operations Rob Brzezinski as interim GM.
Wilf said that Adofo-Mensah’s firing wasn’t based on any individual decision, but on a review of his total body of work. But clearly there was some discord over quarterback decisions since Adofo-Mensah’s contract
was extended last year. It may not have been over letting Sam Darnold go, which Kevin O’Connell seemed to have agreed with in saying that Darnold had earned the right to explore free agency, but in not procuring a better backup to McCarthy than Sam Howell, who didn’t make the team and led to them signing Carson Wentz off the couch at the end of August. Adofo-Mensah’s drafting didn’t do him any favors either, but Brian Flores expressing displeasure with the direction of the front office under Adofo-Mensah in January may have been the deciding factor in ownership later deciding to part ways with Adofo-Mensah.
Vikings’ President and co-owner Mark Wilf said they would move quickly after the draft to name a new general manager after the draft, but also conduct a thorough process, in his comments following the dismissal of Adofo-Mensah. He also said they would lean more into the coaching staff as they went through free agency and the draft process.
During the league meetings in March, Mark Wilf elaborated more on what they are looking for in a new general manager:
“We certainly want someone who is a great leader, someone who can lead. We feel we have a great scouting staff. Great coaching staff. Of course, never resting on any laurels- we want to continue to strive to be the best. We want to be competitive every single year and have long-term success.
So someone’s got to fit within that. It’s got to fit within what we have in our building right now as well. So it’s a host of factors. Hopefully we’ll know it when we see it, but we’re certainly going to, as part of the laying out of the process, try to develop some qualities we can build around.”
Looking for Someone Who Can Fit In
The fact that Mark Wilf specifically said that ownership is happy with the scouting staff and coaching staff and is looking for someone who can fit in with, rather than overhaul, those staffs signals that Vikings’ ownership isn’t looking for the new GM to rebuild the front office. They are looking for the new GM to be a consensus builder.
Wilf also said that Kevin O’Connell would have some input into the new general manager hiring process, seemingly elevating his status within the organization, along with COO Andrew Miller. One would think Brian Flores would also have some input, either with Kevin O’Connell or the Wilfs or both, given the importance the team places in having him as defensive coordinator and his previous expression of dissatisfaction with the direction of the front office.
Finalists Have Ties to the Vikings or O’Connell
After announcing that search firm TurnkeyZRG would develop a list of external candidates to go along with Rob Brzezinski, who has reportedly thrown his hat into the ring, the Vikings conducted first-round Zoom interviews with a total of nine candidates: Chad Alexander (Chargers), RJ Gillen (49ers), Terrance Gray (Bills), John McKay (Rams), Nolan Teasely (Seahawks), Dave Ziegler (Titans), Ray Agnew (Lions), Reed Burckhardt (Broncos) and Kyle Smith (Dolphins). The last three names were added after the original six.
Chad Alexander subsequently removed his name from consideration, while the following five candidates have emerged as finalists for the Vikings’ GM job:
- Vikings interim GM Rob Brzezinski
- Broncos AGM Reed Burckhardt
- Bills AGM Terrance Gray
- Rams AGM John McKay
- Seahawks AGM Nolan Teasley
Four of the finalists have connections to the Vikings. Brzezinski has obviously been with the Vikings for over two decades.
Reed Burckhardt worked for the Vikings for 13 years alongside assistant GM George Paton but followed Paton when he took the GM job in Denver, where he was director of player personnel for four years and then was promoted to assistant general manager last year. He is a Minnesota native from small town Russell, Minnesota.
Terrance Gray was a college scout for 11 years with the Vikings from 2006-2016 before moving to Buffalo to be the Bills’ director of college scouting. He has since been promoted to assistant general manager.
John McKay has been ten years with the Rams, overlapping Kevin O’Connell’s time there. He was promoted to assistant general manager last year after serving for four years as the director of pro personnel.
The only one of the five without any clear connection to the Vikings or Kevin O’Connell is Nolan Teasley. He has been with the Seahawks for 12 years, including four most recently as assistant general manager. Like McKay, he came up on the pro personnel side, spending five years as director of pro personnel before being elevated to assistant general manager. The Seahawks have drafted relatively well in recent years, but Teasley working on the pro personnel side was unlikely to have been a major voice in college scouting for the Seahawks.
Different Backgrounds
While at first glance the four external finalists all have a scouting background, they have worked in different areas. Terrance Gray has come up as a college scout and director of college scouting. John McKay and Nolan Teasley have come up on the pro personnel side, meaning they scout players already in the NFL.
Reed Burckhardt may have the most combined scouting experience on both the college and pro sides, managing both scouting staffs as director of player personnel in Denver for four years, in addition to the 13 years he spent with the Vikings, first as a college scout (2010-2016) and later (2017-2021) as a pro scout and moving up to become director of pro personnel.
Finally there is interim GM Rob Brzezinski, who doesn’t have a scouting background but has been the Vikings’ primary contract negotiator and salary cap guru for many years.
And the Winner Is…
My guess is that who the Vikings name as their next general manager may come down to whether they are comfortable with Rob Brzezinski and leveraging the coaching staff more in decision making on personnel moves. That’s essentially what they have done since Adofo-Mensah was fired and giving Kevin O’Connell and Brian Flores more of a voice in personnel decisions could work out fine. If they feel that is the most effective structure going forward, where Brzezinski essentially continues as salary cap guru and contract negotiator, but with added responsibilities around consensus building with the coaching and scouting staffs and reporting to ownership, then they’ll go with Brzezinski.
If they do want someone with a scouting background, I wouldn’t be surprised if they choose Burckhardt as having the broadest scouting background while also being able to fit in well having worked for many years in a front office that included Brzezinski. Burckhardt will have to pass muster with all the key players, and it’s not clear if he will, but if it’s not Brzezinski, Burckhardt may be the best positioned in terms of background in both college and pro scouting and having worked for the Vikings for 13 years and developed relationships during that time.
Stay tuned.
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