Imagine, if you will: Rob Brzezinski walked down the hallways of TCO Performance Center with a nervous energy. The interim general manager of the Minnesota Vikings was about to have his final interview for the full-time job. He walked into a meeting room with Mark Wilf at the head of the table and Kevin O’Connell directly to his right and sat down.
“So, you think you have what it takes to be the general manager of the Vikings…BIG DOG?” Wilf asked.
Brzezinski took a moment to gather his thoughts and responded.
“I don’t know about that…CHIEF!” Brzezinski said.
Suddenly, the room filled with laughter, and O’Connell stood up to say he knows how he feels about Brzezinski, and Brzezinski knows how he feels about him. Just like that, Brzezinski was named the Vikings’ new general manager.
While it might not go down exactly like this, it’s the expected result as the Vikings conduct their final round of interviews to replace Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. After the Wilfs led the Vikings through the offseason, many are wondering why they didn’t just give Brzezinski the job and skip the unorthodox search for a new general manager.
But if there’s one thing the Vikings can get out of this search, it’s finding a way to bring a piece of the NFL’s most successful franchises to Minnesota.
Going into the weekend, Brzezinski is likely to get the GM job. Amid a turbulent end to Adofo-Mensah’s tenure, Brzezinski brought together everyone from coaches to scouts to work within the Vikings’ culture of collaboration. Mark Wilf even told USA Today’s Jori Epstein at the NFL Spring Meetings this week that the Vikings “need to have a leader who represents ownership who can bring the building together.”
It’s also worth noting that four of the five candidates either have ties to the Vikings organization or O’Connell, hinting that the Wilfs like their “super competitive” culture.
Even if that’s the case and Brzezinski gets the job, it’s hard to ignore that the Vikings have had just three playoff wins since the Wilfs bought the team in 2005 and none since 2019. To evolve, they need to figure out how some of the NFL’s winning franchises tick, and it shows in their list of candidates.
Reed Burckhardt is the assistant general manager of the Denver Broncos, and while most Vikings fans have disdain for Sean Payton and Bo Nix, it’s hard to argue with what Denver has done. The Broncos may have been in the Super Bowl had Nix not broken his ankle in the divisional round. They could be in contention again this fall if Nix doesn’t have complications from the two surgeries over the offseason.
Terrance Gray also has ties to the Vikings organization, but he is the current assistant general manager of the Buffalo Bills. While people have questioned why general manager Brandon Beane blamed Sean McDermott for Buffalo’s shortcomings, the Bills may be one of the AFC’s best teams that doesn’t have Patrick Mahomes. They have built a perennial contender around Josh Allen.
John McKay worked with O’Connell during his tenure with the Los Angeles Rams, who have used unorthodox methods to build a perennial contender. The Rams wore “F Them Picks” shirts at their championship parade, but it won them a Super Bowl in 2021 and helped them quickly rebuild to get back into contention after a weird 2022 season.
Then there’s Nolan Teasley. As the assistant general manager of the Seattle Seahawks, there’s some humorous potential to ask him what they did with Sam Darnold. But the Seahawks might be one of the best-drafting teams in the NFL, adding Grey Zabel, Nick Emmanwori, Byron Murphy, Devon Witherspoon, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, among others, to fuel their Super Bowl run.
In reality, the interview process could be a lot like when the Vikings poach a player off the Green Bay Packers’ practice squad. It’s unlikely the player will become a fixture on their roster, but they can provide enough intel to better prepare to battle that team.
The Vikings felt like they had fallen behind when they fired Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer after the 2021 season, so they tried something new by hiring Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell. Half of that partnership worked, and the tendency is to fall back into their old comfort zone.
But for the Vikings to grow, they need to find out how everyone else has passed them by, and this interview process can be a step in the right direction.
