Several days after the Minnesota Vikings made the decision to fire Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as the team's general manager, their approach to the 2026 offseason is becoming clearer.
Minnesota revealed in its initial statement about Adofo-Mensah's departure that the team's current Executive Vice President of Football Operations, Rob Brzezinski, will lead the front office through the 2026 NFL Draft, and the team is expected to begin a formal search for a new general manager afterward.
On Thursday, the Vikings made Brzezinski's life a little easier when they announced the hiring of Matt Thomas as a football administration consultant.
Thomas has spent more than two decades working in NFL front offices, with his last stint coming with the Seattle Seahawks between 2013 and 2024 as their Vice President of Football Operations, where he was in charge of contract negotiations and maintaining the team's salary cap.
New addition will allow Rob Brzezinski to focus on free agency and the 2026 NFL Draft for the Minnesota Vikings
During the majority of Brzezinski's tenure with Minnesota, he's the one who has been in charge of the team's salary cap and all of the contract negotiations. But with him now taking on a lot more responsibilities this offseason after the firing of Adofo-Mensah, the Vikings clearly felt the need to take some of the load off his shoulders.
By letting Thomas handle all of the behind-the-scenes duties with contracts and the salary cap, Brzezinski can have more time to meet with Minnesota coaches and staff to evaluate potential additions in free agency and the draft this offseason.
With the Vikings currently projected to begin the new league year in March more than $40 million over the league's salary cap, Thomas certainly won't have an easy job figuring out how to get Minnesota out from under water before free agency begins in several weeks.
Thankfully, he has plenty of experience when it comes to salary cap gymnastics, so it's even possible that he'll be able to find a way for the Vikings to have a notable amount of actual cap space by the time the new league year begins.