Vikings Fans Finally Have a Ryan Grigson Answer

From the moment the Minnesota Vikings terminated general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in January, many fans have wondered about Ryan Grigson’s fate, the man who filled the role of senior vice president of player personnel for a few years and assistant general manager in 2025. As of Wednesday, the verdict is in — Minnesota will not retain Grigson, and in fact, he’s now a member of the Cleveland Browns’ front office.

Grigson’s run in Minnesota lasted about as long as Adofo-Mensah’s.

Vikings’ Front Office Shakeup Now Has Its Missing Verdict

Grigson Out in MIN, Latches Back on to CLE

The Athletic‘s Devon Henderson and Michael Silver wrote Wednesday, “Ryan Grigson is leaving the Minnesota Vikings to become a senior football adviser to Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry, a league source confirmed to The Athletic on Wednesday.”

“Grigson, an assistant general manager under since-departed Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah last season, was given an opportunity to remain with Minnesota in a different role. Instead, he opted to return to Cleveland, the source said on the condition of anonymity because they hadn’t been authorized to speak publicly on the matter.”

Often, when things would go bad in Minnesota, some would point the finger at Grigson — sometimes without any real evidence.

Henderson and Silver added, “Grigson worked as senior football adviser for the Browns from 2020 to 2021 and senior personnel executive in 2017. Most notably, Grigson was the GM of the Indianapolis Colts from 2012 to 2016 — an era of transition in which the franchise cut ties with Peyton Manning and drafted quarterback Andrew Luck in 2012 with the No. 1 pick.”

“For part of Grigson’s time with the Colts, Berry reported to him.”

The Boogeyman for Some Fans

Here’s a little secret: the bulk of Vikings fans don’t like Grigson. Anytime something went wrong in the last four years, if Adofo-Mensah wasn’t ripe for blame, fans would use Grigson as the scapegoat. In fact, he felt like a boogeyman, though folks could never exactly pinpoint his sins.

For example, if a Vikings draft class bent bad — that happened a lot under Adofo-Mensah — folks would grumble about Grigson, suggesting his influence contributed to the debacle.

So, when reporting emerged on Wednesday that he was no longer a part of the Vikings’ front office, most social media users commended the departure.

Grigson’s Track Record

Grigson’s career presents a mixed record. In Indianapolis, he achieved success, notably by drafting Andrew Luck and contributing to three 11-win teams, earning him Executive of the Year honors. However, his tenure also included missteps such as the Trent Richardson trade, a struggling offensive line, and questionable draft picks like Bjoern Werner and Phillip Dorsett, ultimately leading to a depleted roster around Luck.

Despite those shortcomings, Grigson has maintained a presence in NFL front offices, holding personnel roles with the Seahawks, Browns, and Vikings after leaving the Colts. Joining the Vikings in 2022, he quickly advanced to the senior vice president of player personnel and then assistant general manager roles. In these capacities, he was deeply involved in all aspects of the Adofo-Mensah era, including free agency, draft preparation, and roster evaluation.

Grigson is undeniably a football lifer, but his track record demonstrates he is not a flawless personnel strategist, as evidenced by Minnesota’s recent draft performance.

SI.com‘s Will Ragatz noted Wednesday, “Because of his reputation from his time with the Colts and the general struggles of the Adofo-Mensah regime in the draft, it’s fair to say Grigson was not a popular figure among Vikings fans, even if fans have no insight into the specific roles and contributions of specific non-GM front office executives.”

“Minnesota’s new AGMs under Teasley are Andrew Healy and Trent Kirchner. Healy, who will be the No. 2 football executive for the Vikings, comes from an analytics background with Cleveland. Kirchner is a more traditional scouting and personnel executive who is following Teasley from Seattle.”

Teasley Means Business

The overall takeaway? It’s a new era in Minnesota. Adofo-Mensah is obviously gone, and if Grigson was truly his main lieutenant, they ended up leaving as a package deal — it just took five months for Grigson to follow suit.

Teasley has already used the last few weeks to bring in “his guys,” a normal behavior for new leaders in power.

It’s also worth noting that Adofo-Mensah and Grigson orchestrated the J.J. McCarthy draft pick in 2024. If Minnesota has an off-ramp planned for McCarthy now that Kyler Murray is in tow, all it has to do is point to its actions — getting rid of Adofo-Mensah and Grigson — as a symbol that they were responsible.

Vikings training camp gets underway in about a month.

Dustin Baker is a novelist and political scientist. His second novel, The Invaders , is out now. So is … More about Dustin Baker