In 2026, the Vikings will be moving into a new era. Or, at least, sort of a new era.
The quarterback spot sees Kyler Murray going toe-to-toe (arm-to-arm?) with J.J. McCarthy. In all likelihood, there will be a different starter in Week 1 than most anticipated after the conclusion of the 2024 NFL Draft. That alone means Minnesota finds itself in an unforeseen spot.
Likewise, the move toward a new GM — whoever that ends up being — points toward some level of strangeness. Whoever is hired needs to play nice with the in-house leadership while nevertheless implementing a unique vision. Hiring a GM in May or June is itself peculiar, but there’s another reality that makes things even more bizarre.
Rallying around a new general manager means rallying around somebody who is going to lead the team through another competitive rebuild.
The Vikings’ Pivot Toward a New GM Meets a Strange Reality
The final years with Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman weren’t terrible. They weren’t good, but they weren’t awful. Nobody looked at the Vikings as being akin to the Browns, Cardinals, or Jets. Instead, they were an underachieving football team that needed a reset.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was brought aboard. The numbers nerd has a background in academia and investing, meaning he boasted a unique epistemological framework to understand the problems that were ailing the Minnesota Vikings. Very (in)famously, Adofo-Mensah opted to work through a “competitive rebuild,” a way of stripping down the roster while still looking to win ball games.
In a basic sense, the approach involved methodically turning over the roster, moving off of well-paid veterans who were getting toward the end of their NFL careers.
Consider some of the Vikings’ mainstay players who were shown the door within the Adofo-Mensah days: LB Eric Kendricks, LB Anthony Barr, RB Dalvin Cook, WR Adam Thielen, RB Alexander Mattison, WR K.J. Osborn, C Garrett Bradbury, CB Patrick Peterson, EDGE Danielle Hunter, and S Camryn Bynum (among others). And, of course, QB Kirk Cousins, the well-paid passer who may finish his long career with only a single playoff victory. He, too, was shown the door.
Not everybody met that fate. Guys like WR Justin Jefferson, RT Brian O’Neill, LT Christian Darrisaw, S Josh Metellus, and S Harrison Smith (still undecided for 2026) found a way to stick around. Still, though, the objective was clear: the Vikings wanted to refuel the plane while it was still in the air. Doing so meant dropping the guillotine on some bloated contracts.
Adofo-Mensah had some failure and some success in that approach, but fumbling the quarterback position doomed him. A new top option for the front office is therefore needed.
The Vikings have shrunk things down to five candidates. Rob Brzezinski has his supporters after shepherding the Vikings through these past few months. Otherwise, note that the Bills, Broncos, Rams, and Seahawks — impressive franchises — see combatants looking to become Minnesota’s next GM.
Whoever ends up winning the sweepstakes will be tasked with successfully navigating a competitive rebuild (even if it gets called by a different name). In other words, turn the team from good to great. Get the finances in a better spot, onboard young talent, and solidify that quarterback spot. All of those items were on the to-do list in 2022; they remain on the to-do list in 2026.
After a 9-8 season that involved missing the playoffs, the Vikings are keen to rebound in 2026. Stacking wins in the regular season is the expectation. Not a foregone conclusion, of course, but the basic standard for how the team is attacking the upcoming challenge.
There’s then the next dragon to slay: the playoffs. Kevin O’Connell is 0-2 as a head coach in the final tournament, something that will need to change soon lest he start mirroring Marvin Lewis over in Cincinnati.
Hiring the new GM will function as the icing on the offseason cake. The leadership will be in place ahead of the most pivotal portion of the competition: training camp and the preseason. Quite possibly, there will be a bold move (or two) to shore up weak spots on the roster.
Within these considerations, the incoming GM’s mandate is going to appear strikingly similar to the old GM’s mandate.