Vikings’ GM Search Has 5 Finalists

Most teams don’t search for a general manager in the middle of May, but the Minnesota Vikings are doing precisely that in 2026. And according to credible reporting, the team’s shortlist of options is down to five men,

Minnesota could have its next general manager in place before June.

The Vikings should announce the answer soon. The field has narrowed.

Minnesota’s Shortlist Includes Several Up-and-Comers

Who’s your GM pick for the purple team?

Search Down to Five

The process has taken a next step. NBC Sports‘ Josh Alper wrote Wednesday, “Vikings owner Mark Wilf said on Tuesday that the team is ready to move on to a second round of General Manager interviews and the team has reportedly picked five candidates to continue in the search process.”

“Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reports that they want to have second meetings with their executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski, Broncos assistant GM Reed Burckhardt, Bills assistant GM Terrance Gray, Rams assistant GM John McKay, and Seahawks assistant GM Nolan Teasley.”

Until the reported trimdown, Minnesota has interviewed about nine outside candidates, according to reports.

Alper added, “Brzezinski has been doing the job in Minnesota on an interim basis since they fired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. 49ers assistant GM RJ Gillen, Titans assistant GM Dave Ziegler and Lions Assistant GM Ray Agnew were also involved in the first round. Chargers assistant GM Chad Alexander declined an interview request.”

How We Got Here

The Vikings hired a brand new leadership regime in 2022, replacing former general manager Rick Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer with Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell, respectively. Together, the pair posted the NFL’s fifth-best winning percentage over the last four years but failed to reach the playoffs in 2025. The franchise also has a major question mark at quarterback, unsure if J.J. McCarthy is “the guy” for the future. So, Minnesota signed Kyler Murray this offseason to hedge the bet.

While the Vikings missed the postseason, the club’s 2024 quarterback, Sam Darnold, won a Super Bowl with his new team out in Seattle. Furthermore, Adofo-Mensah struggled to draft impactful players and featured a hit rate below 20%, which is mind-bogglingly destructive to the long-term health of an NFL roster.

The Vikings’ ownership fired Adofo-Mensah on January 30th, five days after Darnold’s Seahawks won the NFC Championship, retaining O’Connell and promoting Brzezinski to interim GM. O’Connell and Brzezinski engineered the 2026 offseason — free agency and the draft — and now the ownership group wants a formal GM search.

O’Connell and Brzezinski are expected to maintain significant power within the front office, regardless of who is hired among the five finalists.

Rob Brzezinski’s Angle

Brzezinski is a central figure in what makes this search so fascinating. While the Vikings appear to have the luxury of time to sort through candidates and determine their ideal front office structure, Brzezinski remains central to the entire process.

He has been with the franchise since 1999 — a remarkable 25-year tenure. His potential departure now would be particularly unusual, especially after he recently served three and a half months as interim general manager — a role many believe he handled effectively.

Brzezinski’s future could unfold in several ways. The Vikings might remove his interim tag and promote him to the full-time GM position. Alternatively, they could return him to his previous role as the team’s cap specialist and financial expert. A third option involves creating a custom structure that grants Brzezinski greater authority while bringing in a new GM focused primarily on personnel, scouting, and the draft.

Regardless of the outcome, Brzezinski’s influence is undeniable. Any serious search for a Vikings general manager must consider his presence.

Probably a Unique Setup

From 2006 to 2012, the Vikings welcomed a “triangle of authority” among the aforementioned Spielman, the owners, and the head coach (Brad Childress and Leslie Frazier). They’re not strangers to custom front-office dynamics.

There’s a decent chance that Minnesota names the new general manager, whose title has a different job description than most around the NFL.

It may be the price to pay if keeping O’Connell in a more powerful role is the desired result.

“We’ve interviewed different candidates, and it’s going well and progressing well. Not much new to report except to say I’m confident we’re gonna end up in a really good place, and I’m certainly excited about where we are as a football team. This will be helpful to go forward to the future,” owner Mark Wilf said about the state of the search this week.

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