The Minnesota Vikings sent shockwaves throughout the NFL on Friday morning, announcing that general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has been relieved of his duties after four seasons, a stretch during which the Purple & Gold went 43-25 in the regular season and earned two trips to the playoffs but failed to win either postseason game.
Minnesota, of course, needed five consecutive wins to close out the 2025 campaign just to finish over .500 at 9-8.
And while there were rumblings that the franchise could consider moving on, the fact that the 44-year-old remained in his role in the weeks that followed the end of the regular season, a time when so many teams were firing GMs and coaches, seemed to indicate that the Vikings were ready to roll with him for at least one more year. But that's obviously not how things played out.
To make the situation even stranger, the Vikes announced that Adofo-Mensah will not be replaced until after the NFL draft, which doesn't take place until late April, with Executive Vice President of Football Operations Rob Brzezinski holding down the fort until then.
Perhaps the brass seeing Sam Darnold take the Seattle Seahawks to the Super Bowl was just too much to bear, but whatever the reason may be, Adofo-Mensah is gone, and the Vikings simply have to move forward from here. The timing is just a little strange.
And speaking of timing, the Green Bay Packers twisted the knife a little bit, as only a few hours after the Vikings announced the firing, their longtime rivals finalized extensions for their GM, head coach, and EVP.
Green Bay Packers extend head coach and GM after Minnesota Vikings fire Kwesi Adofo-Mensah
Green Bay, of course, did make the postseason for a third consecutive year, finishing just ahead of the Vikings in the standings at 9-7-1 after dropping their final four games of the regular season.
Despite the disappointing finish, the Packers seemed set for some postseason success, as they took a 15-point lead into the fourth quarter of their wild-card matchup against the NFC North champion Chicago Bears, only to surrender 25 points in the final frame en route to a 31-27 loss.
And just like it was with the Vikings, once the Packers' season ended, there were rumblings that the franchise might move on from both GM Brian Gutekunst and head coach Matt LaFleur, both of whom had only one year remaining on their respective contracts.
But the decision was ultimately made by Green Bay President/CEO Ed Policy to keep both on board, and, as mentioned, only a few hours after the Vikings made their big announcement on Friday, the Packers announced that they'd finalized multi-year extensions for Gutekunst, LaFleur, and Executive Vice President/Director of Football Operations Russ Ball.
These extensions were always going to happen, of course, but the timing just adds a little extra sting for Vikings fans.