There are favorable odds of Minnesota benefiting from consecutive masterclasses in free agency.
The signings alone – no less, how brilliant performances from 2024 additions helped the Vikings win 14 games last season and further established a culture of appeal for future targeted players – are a feather in the cap of General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and his staff. That in conjunction with what appears to be a resourceful, and focused, 2025 Draft haul confirmed Minnesota is trending the direction it wants.
Inking Adofo-Mensah to a contract extension Friday was a continuation of what's long been in motion – Vikings brass is aligned in its goals, determined to reach them and aware of the best processes to do so.
Maybe, that's not news. But it's something rare in a league rightfully obsessed with winning.
The Athletic's Alec Lewis on Thursday introduced insights from former San Francisco 49ers executive and three-time Super Bowl champion coach Bill Walsh to understand, in depth, the vision held by the Vikings.
Citing passages – and lessons – from one of Walsh's books, "Building a Champion," co-authored with Glenn Dickey, Lewis gathers Minnesota is navigating well what is really a delicate dance.
That is, a working relationship between coaches and members of the front office that tends to be challenging in nature. Walsh worded it like this: "Each man's priorities can be diametrically opposed."
View photos from the Vikings fifth OTA practice, which took place on June 3 at the TCO Performance Center.
Lewis penned the following:
The general manager must be mindful of the overall economics and the long-term vision. The coach cares about winning — now. Threading the needle between those two worlds causes many situations to crumble. Toss in other factors, like an owner's potential meddling, the stress of losing, one key decision-maker craving public attention or credit over another, and the dynamics get messy quickly.
Walsh's tactics and standards are emulated across football, but they're not often perfected; his experiences, Lewis detailed, resulted in two conclusions: 1) Teams hoping to sustain winning operate with continuity, and 2) a team's leadership must be willing to change when something doesn't work.
Lewis deftly connects the formula prescribed in Walsh's manual, extolling Minnesota for extending Adofo-Mensah and in turn keeping intact the partnership between him and Head Coach Kevin O'Connell.
In doing so, Vikings ownership demonstrated an obvious commitment to "attaining the elusive trophy."
As proof that continuity is integral to a thoughtfully constructed championship chase, Lewis asked and answered a series of questions: First, how many clubs have won 60 percent of their games since 2020?
Seven.
Who are they?
The Chiefs, Bills, Packers, Ravens, Eagles, Buccaneers and Steelers.
And what do they share in common?
Six of the seven have the same general manager now that they had in 2020, and the only one that doesn't (Pittsburgh) made a change when the previous GM retired. Additionally, only the Eagles and Bucs have different head coaches than the ones they began the decade with, and Tampa Bay replaced the former coach with his defensive coordinator.
There are obviously other factors hugely important to a team's success over an extended period – quarterback play, locker room camaraderie, the panning out of players with great expectations, to name a few – but none carry the significance of continuity at the top, which trickles down to on-field success.
By extending Adofo-Mensah – and O'Connell earlier this spring – Minnesota should cash in on continuity.
Check out Lewis' story here.
5 years later …
Justin Jefferson slid, somehow, to the bottom half of the first round in the 2020 NFL Draft.
The instant reaction out of the Vikings war room then was caught on camera and depicted a glee from team leadership when Philadelphia selected a wide receiver one slot before Minnesota was on the clock.
Jefferson wound up the fifth receiver drafted! Five years later, though, he's undoubtedly the class' best.
Earlier this week, FOX Sports reminded us of that fact, unveiling a Top 10 ranking of players from the 2020 NFL onboarding. Jefferson, the 22nd pick in that cycle, was penciled in as the No. 5 overall player.
FOX Sports wrote the following:
Jefferson has been a star since he made his debut in 2020, immediately setting records as a rookie. At the time, his 1,400 receiving yards were the most ever by a rookie, with former LSU teammate Ja'Marr Chase breaking that record a year later. But Jefferson still holds some records as he's currently the NFL's all-time leader in receiving yards per game (96.5) over his career. He holds that record, in large part, thanks to a strong year in 2022, when he led the NFL in receptions and receiving yards en route to winning Offensive Player of the Year. Jefferson had another strong year in 2024, recording 103 receptions for 1,533 yards and 10 touchdowns to earn his second first-team All-Pro nod (fourth total) and fourth Pro Bowl honors.
OK, so who on Earth has been as, if not more dominant, and maybe warrants greater recognition?
The tippy top of FOX Sports' spread features three quarterbacks: Cincinnati's Joe Burrow (drafted first overall), Philadelphia's Jalen Hurts (53rd) and the Los Angeles Chargers Justin Herbert (sixth). Tampa Bay offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs (13th) edged Jefferson in the fourth spot on FOX Sports' best-in-class list.
Expectedly, it's tough to argue against positioning for those players since they've replicated thriving seasons – Burrow is one of the league's preeminent passers year over year; Hurts is a dynamic dual threat and recently crowned Super Bowl MVP; Herbert is an understated leader that protects the ball and flicks it as well as anyone; and Wirfs is the rare tackle with First-Team All-Pro nods on both flanks.
Jefferson, however, is operating at a historic frequency. We think the Top 5 are fairly interchangeable.
Rounding out its ranking, FOX Sports touted these players as the finest from the Draft Class of 2020 after Jefferson: Dallas WR CeeDee Lamb (17th), Green Bay QB Jordan Love (26th), Tampa Bay S Antoine Winfield, Jr. (45th), Indianapolis RB Jonathan Taylor (41st) and Baltimore DT Nnamdi Madubuike (71st).
Read the article, and discover which players just missed the cut, here.
View the 2025 Vikings Schedule.
Check out the 2025 International games.
View more future opponents for the Vikings.
Buy single game tickets.
Download the official Vikings App.
