The Minnesota Vikings fell to 4-6 on the season with their Week 11 loss to the Chicago Bears. In the cellar of the NFC North, two games behind everyone else and with four losses in their last five games, the playoffs are a fading dream right now.
The rest of the 2025 season is now centered on figuring out if J.J. McCarthy can become the quarterback that head coach Kevin O'Connell thinks he can be. But if the remaining seven games don't answer that question in a notable way, one way or the other, what is the plan moving forward?
Adding legit competition for the young quarterback during the offseason would be in the range of possibilities if things stay in the negative direction.
Minnesota Vikings' analyst offers "hot take" that lands as lukewarm
Monday's episode of SKOR North's "Purple Daily" started with "hot takes" after the loss to the Bears, and co-host Judd Zulgad wasted no time in offering up something that will land as a scorcher.
"Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Ryan Grigson will not be with the Vikings this spring to run the draft", Zulgad said.
I think somebody's gonna take the fall. Somebodies, perhaps, are going to take the fall for this season. The reality is right now, the Vikings, I believe are going to have about 10 draft picks in April.
The drafting so far has shown nothing in the way of 'hey you know what, you've done a great job, you're bringing in a lot of young talent here."
Zulgad noted how Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O'Connell both received contract extensions recently. Still, Adofo-Mensah came last, and thus it may carry less certainty about his job security. Grigson, the assistant general manager who didn't perform well when he was the general manager for the Indianapolis Colts, would surely lose his job too if Adofo-Mensah were fired.
Zulgad also noted that the Vikings' ownership was sold a plan for this season, and how that plan came with expectations that are not in line to be met. The Wilfs are generally fairly patient, but the status quo will be hard to maintain if the team finishes, say, 6-11.
As co-host Phil Mackey noted, as he generally backed up Zulgad's thought, Adofo-Mensah's first draft as the Vikings' general manager in 2022 was historically awful. That was also likely driven by the scouting staff under former general manager Rick Spielman remaining in place, and whatever level of sabotage that may have gone on.
However, that first draft for the new regime is moving toward complete irrelevance to the current situation. If this season stays on the track it's currently on, it's not a huge stretch to say Adofo-Mensah will be the one to take the fall for what's lined up to be a very disappointing result, rooted in a lot of miscalculations.