Sports
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Has a New Job
Last month, the Minnesota Vikings fired general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, 44, after four seasons in charge of the football operation. Although his tenure with the Vikings ended, his NFL career will continue. Rather than taking some time off, he’ll hop immediately into a new front office role with the San Francisco 49ers.
Andrew Krammer of the Star Tribune reported on Tuesday, ” Former Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah will return to the San Francisco 49ers, general manager John Lynch told reporters at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday, Feb. 24. Adofo-Mensah will be rehired by the 49ers in a personnel executive role that will be formalized after the NFL draft, Lynch said.”
Adofo-Mensah had previously worked for the 49ers in several front office positions. He was the manager of football research & development from 2013-2016 and the director of football research & development between 2017 and 2019.
After his time with the 49ers, he served as the Cleveland Browns’ vice president of football operations, then joined the Vikings in 2022.
More from Krammer, “Vikings ownership fired Adofo-Mensah on Jan. 30 after four seasons — and just eight months after he signed a multiyear contract extension. He will return to the 49ers, where he began his NFL career as a quantitative analyst in 2013. The move will save the Vikings some money as Adofo-Mensah had offset language in his former Vikings contract, according to a league source.”
Why Adofo-Mensah was fired remains speculative, as the reports went in different directions. One thing is clear: Though the rosters he handed to the coaches were mostly solid, the results in the Draft were, at the very least, underwhelming. In the long run, teams that don’t draft well won’t be in Super Bowl conversations in January.
Questions about long-term roster direction, including key quarterback decisions, likely contributed to the organization’s evaluation of his tenure.
Krammer added, “Co-owner Mark Wilf, after Adofo-Mensah’s tenure in Minnesota came to an end, said the Vikings ‘felt a change was necessary’ after judging his ‘body of work’ over four seasons. The team watched quarterback Sam Darnold win a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks earlier this month after leaving the Vikings as a free agent a year ago. Adofo-Mensah’s draft record was also poor. The Vikings might not sign any of his 2022 draft picks to a second contract if wide receiver Jalen Nailor goes elsewhere next month.”
Most fired head coaches land on their feet, either returning to coordinator ranks or getting hired in the same position elsewhere. With executives, the story is often more complicated. Some are never seen again, others take advisory roles. Many only get one chance to be GMs.
On Adofo-Mensah’s watch, the Vikings went 43-25 in the regular season and 0-2 in the playoffs.
Without him, the Vikings have turned to Rob Brzezinski. Minnesota’s longtime front-office member will lead the organization through free agency and the Draft before the Vikings begin the process of hiring a successor. Brzezinski could also be in the mix for that role.
From a leaguewide perspective, the move to San Francisco is not surprising. Adofo-Mensah built a strong reputation early in his career as an analytically driven executive with a research background, and the 49ers have long valued that type of profile in their front office structure. Returning to a familiar organization also allows him to step into a lower-pressure environment compared to a general manager role while still contributing to roster construction and long-term planning.
For the 49ers, the hiring represents a low-risk addition of an experienced decision-maker who has led a franchise and understands the demands of modern roster building, contract strategy, and draft evaluation.
