Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah had a courtside seat to the Minnesota Timberwolves’ playoff victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday afternoon, and who could blame him?
Just 24 hours before, Adofo-Mensah wrapped up one of his most challenging draft classes, walking in with four picks and walking out with five selections and a new backup quarterback. With the I’s dotted and the T’s crossed, his construction of the 2025 Vikings appeared complete.
But in the words of a famous basketball player, the job’s not finished.
It wasn’t a year ago when Adofo-Mensah sprang into action to sign Stephon Gilmore to fill out the cornerback room. It continued when he made a midseason trade for Cam Robinson to compensate for losing Christian Darrisaw to a season-ending injury. General managers are always looking for the final piece to a championship puzzle.
For this group of Vikings, cornerback Jalen Ramsey should be that piece.
After a few years in the NFL purgatory, the Vikings are back in a position to go big game hunting, and much of this is based on what happened in the past 12 months.
Nobody expected the Vikings to be an NFC power this time one year ago. Their over/under was 6.5 wins. They were starting Sam Darnold at quarterback. Even if J.J. McCarthy took over as the starter, the best this team could do was win nine games, make the playoffs, and continue the competitive rebuild that Adofo-Mensah had apparently retired.
However, people didn’t expect the Vikings to have the season they had last year. They hit the 7-7-7 jackpot in free agency by signing Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Blake Cashman. They had enough left over to cash in with the signing of Aaron Jones. Brian Flores’s defense took a massive leap forward in his second year in Minnesota, and Kevin O’Connell resurrected Darnold’s career, leading to a 14-3 season.
The pessimist would say last year was a fluke, but the Vikings aren’t acting like it. With McCarthy slated to take over at quarterback, Minnesota used its financial flexibility to sign Byron Murphy Jr. to a top-of-the-market deal and acquire Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen. They continued by signing Will Fries and Ryan Kelly and exercised their right to overkill by selecting Ohio State guard Donovan Jackson in the first round of the draft on Thursday night.
That wasn’t very Vikings-like for a fan base that had watched Rick Spielman make trades until he had at least four seventh-round picks. Adofo-Mensah was willing to be aggressive but knew when to wait things out.
Many Vikings fans felt tense about the backup quarterback situation as Aaron Rodgers worked his way into the mix. The Vikings reportedly spent several days wondering if the polarizing quarterback would be right for a team looking to win a Super Bowl. However, they opted against copying Brett Favre’s script from 2009.
Instead, they waited. Fans freaked out as Gardner Minshew, Jacoby Brissett, and Joe Flacco found new teams. Tension rose as national media members screamed, “I think Aaron Rodgers is gonna be a Viking!” on podcasts. The only calm people were at TCO Performance Center, waiting for the opportunity to strike.
That opportunity came when the Seattle Seahawks selected Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe in the third round of the draft. After signing Darnold, Seattle had five quarterbacks on its roster, and someone had to go. Sam Howell isn’t the type of quarterback you want to start half a season due to injury. Still, he’s servicable and has a $1.1 million cap hit next season.
That figure is minimal, considering Minnesota’s other options. At the beginning of the offseason, the Vikings wanted to sign Daniel Jones before the Indianapolis Colts gave him a one-year, $14 million contract. Brissett signed for $8 million to head to the Arizona Cardinals. Jameis Winston got $4 million from the New York Giants. Even Ryan Tannehill would cost some cash to come out of pseudo-retirement.
The Vikings are still holding a hammer to make a big move. The $17.25 million in cap space has been earmarked by national pundits as a way to bring Rodgers to Minnesota, especially if his claim he’ll play for $10 million is true.
However, the Vikings could also be waiting for a player to invest in to bring it all together.
Some moves are bigger than others, such as the midseason trade to acquire T.J. Hockenson in 2022. But others carry a sense of urgency, such as a potential move to trade for Ramsey.
Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier told reporters on April 15 that a separation between the team and Ramsey was in the best interest going forward. Many have penciled him into going back to the Los Angeles Rams, but the Vikings could swing a trade. O’Connell was with the Rams when Ramsey played there during the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
Minnesota’s cornerback room is also questionable. Murphy is still in the fold, but the Vikings’ other two starters are Mekhi Blackmon, coming off a torn ACL, and Isaiah Rodgers Jr., a reserve for the Philadelphia Eagles last season. Ramsey’s $24.23 million guaranteed salary is an obstacle. Still, Minnesota can overcome it by having the Dolphins take on money or reaching contract extensions with players such as Josh Metellus or Brian O’Neill.
There’s also the sense that Ramsey is worth any headache. He posted a 76.9 overall grade according to Pro Football Focus last year and allowed 46 catches for 546 yards and two touchdowns with a pair of interceptions on 65 targets. He also played 59.5% of his coverage snaps in zone, which would align with Brian Flores’s defense.
He’s the player you’re looking for when you try to win a championship, and Adofo-Mensah has laid the groundwork to make it happen all season. While he may have had a killer stache and a drink in hand as Anthony Edwards sent the Lakers to Galveston, Adofo-Mensah could be on his way to Cancun if he makes Ramsey the final piece of the puzzle.
