Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell held a press conference immediately after trading for Adam Thielen and signing Carson Wentz. Lost in the excitement of two childhood Minnesota Vikings fans dressing in purple, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert asked Adofo-Mensah about Minnesota’s imbalanced roster construction, particularly at cornerback. The Vikings only kept four corners on the 53-man roster, which was peculiar considering that most NFL teams typically keep five to six cornerbacks on their rosters, not including the practice squad.
Adofo-Mensah pointed out how the Vikings signed UDFA standout Zemaiah Vaughn and veteran Fabian Moreau to the practice squad for additional cornerback depth. However, what really caught my attention was Adofo-Mensa highlighting how Brian Flores plans to run a lot of big nickel.
Big nickel isn’t a new concept. In 2024, Josh Metellus played 87% of defensive snaps, ranking fourth among defenders, behind Harrison Smith, Cam Bynum, and Byron Murphy Jr. Without Bynum, it would’ve been fair to question Minnesota’s dedication to playing three safeties at such a high rate, but the Vikings remain committed to their defensive identity.
Minnesota’s commitment to starting three safeties in 2025 could be interpreted as a ringing endorsement of Theo Jackson. The Vikings safety went from a player they claimed off the Tennessee Titans’ practice squad to beating out first-round pick Lewis Cine for a roster spot. Jackson eventually earned Flores’ trust as a scout team safety and has worked his way into becoming Bynum’s successor at free safety. By alluding to the Vikings’ heavy usage of big nickel, Adofo-Mensah is saying a lot about Minnesota’s confidence level in Jackson heading into the 2025 season.
No matter how confident the Vikings’ brass is in Jackson, it doesn’t explain the decision to keep only four cornerbacks on the 53-man roster. Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell will never say it publicly, but the real culprit behind Minnesota’s imbalanced roster construction has to do with cash spending. Not to be confused with cap space, cash spending refers to the team’s revenue and annual budgets established by ownership. The Wilfs gave Adofo-Mensah a budget of $350 million to spend on player salaries for the 2025 fiscal year, and Kwesi has maxed out the credit card.
For the record, it’s not like Mark and Zygi Wilf are refusing to invest in the team. The Vikings lead the league in cash spending for the 2025 season. That means the Wilfs are pouring more money into their roster than any other ownership group in the NFL. Ultimately, the Wilfs are still operating a business, which requires meticulous budgeting to maintain profitability while also putting out a quality product that fans will be excited about.
Unlike the salary cap, there are no league-imposed ramifications for going over the budget. The Wilfs could theoretically grant Adofo-Mensah the ability to surpass the $350 million cash budget in 2025, but that’s unlikely to happen.
Minnesota’s brass knew their budget well before free agency and the draft, and planned how they wanted to spend that money. Adofo-Mensah’s team-building strategy became evident when the Vikings finalized their 53-man roster. They wanted to surround J.J. McCarthy with as much talent as money can buy at every single position on both sides of the ball.
Ryan Kelly, Will Fries, Jonathan Allen, Javon Hargrave, and Thielen are all high-quality veterans who offer a wealth of knowledge, which is incredibly valuable for a young quarterback. The 2025 Vikings were designed to make McCarthy’s life easy. After this season, Thielen is likely to retire, and Kelly could be released with no dead cap hit. In 2027, Allen has a potential out in his contract, and Hargrave hits free agency.
The downside of Adofo-Mensah maxing out cash spending for 2025 is that he has minimal budget to sign players midseason. So if Blake Cashman gets injured, the Vikings must rely on guys already on the roster. That’s probably why the Vikings made the curious decision to keep Austin Keys as a fifth inside linebacker, despite being a practice-squad-caliber player. Minnesota needs to keep extra depth at often-injured positions, so the Wilfs don’t need to spend more money on signing bonuses to add emergency depth.
Minnesota’s front office was likely confident that the Vikings could sneak Zemaiah Vaughn onto the practice squad after he missed a tackle in the last preseason game that led to a 65-yard touchdown. So instead of keeping five cornerbacks and risking going over budget, Adofo-Mensah waived Vaughn, which allowed him to keep an extra inside linebacker.
The Vikings’ decision to keep four cornerbacks was not just a ringing endorsement of Theo Jackson. It was also a financial necessity mandated by ownership to minimize future expenses.
