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On Jan. 30, the Minnesota Vikings surprised many by parting ways with general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah following their failure to reach the playoffs in the 2025 NFL season.
ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter reported, citing sources, that tensions had been simmering within the Vikings organization throughout the year. Schefter added that the situation inside Minnesota had reportedly become “ugly,” according to a league source.
After the firing was announced on Jan. 30, Vikings owner and president Mark Wilf spoke to the media and shared what the future holds for head coach Kevin O’Connell.
“Coach O’Connell, we have all the confidence in the world in Coach O’Connell,” Wilf told reporters (h/t Alec Lewis of The Athletic). “He’s done an excellent job as our head coach. But we need to have the entire organization — he included, everyone is accountable here.”
Vikings Decision to Fire Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Revealed
Moreover, Wilf explained his decision to fire Adofo-Mensah, especially after extending him last offseason.
“We held our end-of-the-season organizational meetings over a couple of weeks and then spent this past week as an ownership group reviewing, discussing, and how best to move forward,“ Wilf told reporters at his press conference. “This is a critical offseason. Ultimately, we felt the change was necessary in football operations, and did not feel comfortable going forward into this offseason with the current leadership.
“It’s not about any one decision or move. We looked at the situation cumulatively; we just didn’t feel confident going through the the offseason, an additional draft, and free agency with this structure. We have an urgency to create a winning football team and establish sustainable success for our fans.”
J.J. McCarthy Gets Blame for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Firing
Amid the reaction from several sports media outlets, sports media host Jim Rome didn’t hold back on the reasons Adofo-Mensah was fired, but he put most of the blame on starting QB J.J. McCarthy, whom the former Vikings general manager selected as the team’s franchise signal-caller.
Nonetheless, that move didn’t pay off in 2025, and it didn’t help that Sam Darnold continued his success with the Seattle Seahawks and is now in Super Bowl LX.
“The truth is, [McCarthy] in and of himself did not get his GM fired,“ Rome said on the Jan. 30 edition of “The Jim Rome Show.” “He didn’t do it alone. Now, he had help, and he had something to do with it, but he had help. Sam Darnold helped. Daniel Jones’ amazing start to the season helped. Aaron Rodgers leading the Steelers to the playoffs helped.
“So it’s not all on J.J., but it’s mostly on J.J. because the biggest problem facing the Vikings right now is that they still have an uncertain future at quarterback. They had all these quarterbacks go through there, and they still have no quarterback. And the rumors this week about bringing in Mac Jones clearly did not set ownership’s hair on fire or help J.J. They’re not even positive what they have in ‘Nine ‘ because ‘Nine ‘ can’t even stay on the field.”
In his first season as the Vikings starter, McCarthy had a passer rating of 72.6 with 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions in 10 games, per StatMuse.
Eduardo Razo Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo
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