'Shocked,' Vikings Insider Blasts Timing of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Firing amid J.J. McCarthy Buzz

Many teams around the NFL have already made their coaching and front office moves this offseason with an eye on the 2026 campaign, but the Minnesota Vikings are now staring at a major decision after they decided to fire general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on Friday.

"I'm not shocked that he was let go," a Vikings source told Alec Lewis and Dianna Russini of The Athletic. "I'm just shocked at the timing."

Another team source echoed that sentiment and said, "This is wild. We all thought the time passed and they decided to keep him. Something changed."

Logic dictated the Vikings were keeping Adofo-Mensah when he was scouting at the Senior Bowl fewer than 24 hours before he was fired. Yet the idea of moving on from the GM was reportedly not a new one in Minnesota.

Lewis and Russini reported there was speculation his "job could be in jeopardy" for weeks despite the contract extension he received last offseason.

On the one hand, the Vikings went 43-25 during the last four seasons and are just one year removed from their impressive 14-3 record in 2024. On the other hand, the quarterback situation with J.J. McCarthy is unsettled at best, and, as Lewis and Russini pointed out, just "four of Adofo-Mensah's 28 draft picks are surefire starters for the future, a paltry return."

But the most important position is quarterback, and that was a major question mark in 2025 with McCarthy completing 57.6 percent of his passes for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions after he missed his rookie season in 2024 with a torn meniscus.

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It certainly didn't help that Sam Darnold, who led the Vikings last season, directed the Seattle Seahawks to the Super Bowl. What's more, Daniel Jones—who was with Minnesota last season—went 8-5 as a starter with the Indianapolis Colts in 2025 before he suffered an injury.

Star wide receiver Justin Jefferson turned heads during an interview with USA Today's Prince Grimes when he said the Vikings "definitely" would have gone to the Super Bowl with Darnold under center.

"Everyone knows the difficulty of the quarterback position this year, how we were dealt it," Jefferson said. "But having a quarterback that already had a season under his belt with us, knew the plays, knew the playbook, knew the players, throwing to me, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, all these guys, I definitely feel like we would have done better. But it is what it is, it's on to newer and better things. But I'm definitely happy and proud of him that he is able to reach it this year."

Adofo-Mensah notably said prior to his firing the information on McCarthy "was all good, but it was admittedly incomplete and a small sample."

Yet Lewis and Russini reported team sources were concerned with the Michigan product's readiness as early as last spring with some questioning whether he could lead the team.

Others "supported" a pursuit of Aaron Rodgers as a short-term solution, but Minnesota did not land the future Hall of Famer who led the Pittsburgh Steelers to the playoffs this season.

It instead turned the offense over to McCarthy, and the result was no playoffs and plenty of question marks moving forward in a difficult division that features the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions.

And one of those questions is who will be the next GM after the organization decided to move on from Adofo-Mensah.