The Minnesota Vikings have the misfortune of playing in what many consider to be the best division in football, and the top dogs of the NFC North just got even more menacing now that the Detroit Lions locked up star pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson on Wednesday.
Hutchinson agreed to a four-year contract extension worth $180 million, giving him a $45 million average annual value that trails only Micah Parsons among pass rushers in the NFL. If only the Vikings could draft and retain some of their top talent in the same way their rivals in Michigan have managed.
The Hutchinson contract serves as a painful reminder that, despite all of the winning that Minnesota has seen in the Kwesi Adofo-Mensah era, his inability to draft talent worthy of extending is precisely why many of the competitors in the NFC North have leapfrogged them.
Aidan Hutchinson extension more proof Detroit Lions continue to draft better than Minnesota Vikings
Adofo-Mensah has been the GM for four seasons, and he appears to have drafted an above-average player with exactly one pick. If not Jordan Addison in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, Adofo-Mensah may be staring down some serious goose eggs in his scouting resume.
2022 was a wash after Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth busted, all while Ed Ingram became one of the worst starters at his position in the entire NFL. Jalen Nailor may have been the best pick.
Addison was hit in 2023, but Jay Ward is the only other member of that class who is still with the Vikings, and he's a backup. J.J. McCarthy could boost the 2024 class, but he and Dallas Turner haven't been what some expected due to injuries or poor performance.
Rookie guard Donovan Jackson looks like a solid starter for Minnesota, but the rest of the 2025 class has yet to make much of a contribution. With third-round receiver Tai Felton tallying just one catch and Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins mustering just one sack, the youngsters aren't developing under O'Connell.
The Vikings have enough star power to remain competitive, especially on the offensive side of the ball. However, unless McCarthy suddenly goes supernova and puts the team on his back, the lack of depth will be why the Vikings miss the playoffs and the Lions continue to contend.
While the Lions need to have conversations about which star players to extend and which to let go in free agency, the Vikings are just begging for homegrown players who are even worth extending.