Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on Tuesday waived the first player he ever drafted, safety Lewis Cine. Earlier in August, he traded away the second player he ever drafted.
Obviously, parting ways with safety Lewis Cine and cornerback Andrew Booth — the respective 32nd and 42nd overall selections in the 2022 NFL Draft – were difficult decisions.
In transparency rare among NFL general managers, Adofo-Mensah explained this week that they were part of his own learning process. Introspectively, he contrasted his first draft with the largest comeback victory in NFL history, his team’s 39-36 comeback victory over the Colts, later that season.
“When I entered the building trying to compete [with an] aging roster, salary cap stuff, I think there was times where I felt down 33-nothing,” he said, as reported by ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert. “And as we all know, that game, it starts with one play, one drive and you build. And I think at times I might’ve been guilty of trying to maybe have a 33-point play all at once.”
Adofo-Mensah entered that building with the No. 12 overall selection in the first round, then made an NFL-most six draft trades, netting four of the top 66 selections. Over his next two drafts, he employed a more discerning approach, making six total trades – three each in 2023 and 2024.
On Sunday when they open the season at the New York Giants (1 p.m. ET, FOX), the Vikings will start wide receiver Jordan Addison and linebacker Dallas Turner, respective first-round selections in those last two drafts. And while a knee injury cost them the rookie season of their other first-round selection in 2024, J.J. McCarthy, they likely have their future franchise quarterback.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell won’t allow his general manager to take all the blame for that first draft, asking what he could’ve done better.
“And it’s helped moving forward,” O’Connell told Seifert. “All of those conversations have to have a layer of realism on the past to help you have the type of future that you want to have. Otherwise, you can be in a scenario where you can make similar decisions that don’t work out multiple times, and then it becomes something that is hard to overcome.”
If there is a bright side, after losing McCarthy, the Vikings certainly don’t have the expectations or pressure other teams face entering this season. But don’t expect anyone in their building to look for moral victories.