Having serious doubts about KAM already?

Jim…regardless of Lewis Cine's development, but did the Vikings screw up by waiting to draft a WR in 2023 vs. 2022? I think Addison may end up being a very solid player, but it's hard not to compare his measurables to Jameson Williams who was there at the Vikings pick prior to the trade-down. The '23 WR class was frankly a bit underwhelming, and I wonder if they were backed into the wrong year to address the position.

At the time I felt that they should have just picked Williams or Kyle Hamilton because they were elite prospects and there was a pretty clear fall off in quality of the prospects. Williams was a better prospect than Addison and ultimately they may regret the way they handled 2022 but if we look at the first and second rounds of recent drafts when it comes to receivers there are quite a few examples of the guy who was drafted higher not becoming the better receiver (see: Justin Jefferson being the fifth receiver picked or AJ Brown going in the second round). So in general, I’m with you that the right move was picking the guy in the top 15 rather than trading way down and then addressing it in a weaker class but I’m not sure how different the odds of either player being great actually are. It’s likely very close. We’ll see how it plays out.

At Tuesday’s news conference prior to the start of training camp, a reporter had asked the general manager if he still calls the Minnesota Vikings’ team-building approach a “competitive rebuild.” Adofo-Mensah chuckled aloud, knowing that it was his own use of the term that created the narrative. He then explained why he used the term in the first place.

“It is a competitive rebuild in terms of how I viewed it when I got here,” he said. “We want to be great every year and give ourselves the best chance (in the long term). That’s kind of what it was. It was, how do you shape-shift while still winning?”

At that time, in the spring of 2022, large contracts owed to aging veterans hindered the team’s financial flexibility. Adofo-Mensah did not gut the entire roster. He did not opt for a full-on rebuild Chicago Bears style. Instead, in the hope of still being good enough to make the playoffs, he massaged certain contracts and infused the depth chart with additional talent such as Za’Darius Smith.

It was, in essence, a bet on health. If veterans like Smith and Danielle Hunter stayed healthy, the team could surprise some folks. And it did.

Now, fast-forward to the present. Seeking long-term flexibility, so he has more options in managing the roster in future years, Adofo-Mensah parted ways with multiple veterans. Those decisions, in turn, will thrust young and inexperienced players into larger roles. If those players fulfill their potential, the team could again surprise the masses.

“You can have a younger team where you have a lot of good probability potential,” Adofo-Mensah said Tuesday, “but a lot of things need to hit at once.”

In many ways, that comment defines the organization’s outlook for 2023 and beyond.

A lot of things need to hit at once.

“It is a competitive rebuild in terms of how I viewed it when I got here,” he said. “If you look back at a three-year time horizon, that’s the plan we set.”

Three years is notable. Year 1 was clearly an all-in attempt to take one last swing at winning with a veteran-laden team and they came away with 13 victories and a home playoff game. Year 2 is the roster refresh. Year 3 is….when they draft a quarterback, maybe?

Let’s stick with Year 2, i.e. 2023, for a minute.

To Adofo-Mensah there is truth in both words of the phrase “competitive rebuild.” This was not a complete teardown like what we saw from the Chicago Bears last season. That is evidenced by the fact the Vikings did not trade quarterback Kirk Cousins, who has guaranteed a baseline of high-quality play from the position over his career. In a tank mode, they would have moved him.

“When we made the playoffs, I’ll never forget, Kevin and I, that’s our first time together, we make the playoffs and we look at each other, like ‘Man, this is too great,’ Adofo-Mensah said. “We want to be great every year and give ourselves a chance, so that’s kind of what it was. It was, how do you shape shift while still winning?”

That’s exactly what the Vikings are trying to do. In a division that’s highly questionable, they are a few young players hitting away from hosting another playoff game. With the key parts of the offense back and a defensive coordinator who is willing to toss in a blitz (or 20), you can squint a little and see double-digit wins despite all the Pro Bowls lost.

Still, Adofo-Mensah admitted something very interesting: That it’s harder to do it this way than tanking.

“That’s a little riskier than tearing everything down and being bad for a while then coming back up, but we know that,” he said. “I can tell you the mathematical probability of doing it that way and that’s the way other teams may have chosen, but that’s not the way we’re trying to do it. We’re trying to be good, figure out a way to be competitive, give ourselves many chances at it so that we can get one or more championships. That’s what we believe in here, and we’ll always try to pursue that.”

One of the reasons it’s hard to straddle the middle is because being very bad results in drafting quarterbacks high. Justin Herbert just landed a massive contract extension. Joe Burrow is next. Trevor Lawrence is a rising star. Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes weren’t first overall but they were high picks nonetheless. Jared Goff made a Super Bowl. Andrew Luck was a Pro Bowler four times in six seasons. You get the picture. Everyone knows that what comes next at QB is likely to determine whether Year 3 and beyond of the “competitive rebuild” ends up working.

“You always have to be scenario driven in this job,” Adofo-Mensah said of the QB position’s future. “When you go to the draft, you have to be prepared for who’s there, who’s available, what happens if they are not available? Trade back, trade up? So, that’s what we do in this job. The quarterback position is extremely important but it’s no different in terms of being able to prepare for those plans. Again, I’ll always say it, there is a certain level that you need to have to win a championship, so you are trying to make sure you can have that within the confines of within putting the rest of the team around him, and that’s what we’re always continuing to do as we’re here.”

Only a few minutes before Adofo-Mensah opined about drafting quarterbacks, he heaped praise upon Kirk Cousins, saying that the Netflix series Quarterback showed everything he does to succeed in the NFL. A perfect juxtaposition, considering the competitive rebuild is kind of a walking contradiction in itself. During Cousins’s press conference, he mentioned telling his agent not to call him unless something was afoot with a new contract. After he said during the spring that the two sides are going to talk next March, it seems Cousins’s agent won’t be dialing him up any time soon.

The QB wasn’t the only thing that was tangentially connected to Adofo-Mensah’s competitive rebuild, by the way. He was forced to address Jordan Addison’s speeding citation. Later on, Harrison Smith talked about why it might be taking first-rounder Lewis Cine a while to catch on. There’s pressure during this training camp for the GM’s rebuild-y side to look like it’s coming along. The Vikings have almost no experience in the secondary behind Harrison Smith and Byron Murphy Jr. and receiver and running back rooms that hinge on inexperienced players.

The competitive side has a lot of decisions too, starting with Danielle Hunter. He held out of minicamp, presumably with the aim to get a new long-term contract and the team reportedly got phone calls with trade offers. He checked into camp but neither Adofo-Mensah or Kevin O’Connell could say if he will actually practice.

“There’s a lot of things we are trying to work through with Danielle,” Adofo-Mensah said. “Obviously, we haven’t seen him since last season, so that amongst many other issues we are trying to work through with his representatives. Those conversations are ongoing. I don’t want to give you an answer and tell you yes or no.”

That decision impacts how competitive they can be.

Other extensions impact what they have to build around in the future, including Justin Jefferson and TJ Hockenson, who are both up for extensions. The Vikings’ GM wasn’t shy about expressing his admiration for each. He told a story of meeting Jefferson and talking to him about winning and noted that he’s already spoken to Hockenson.

“I actually called TJ in when he got here,” Adofo-Mensah said. “Another person who fits what we want as a Viking here long-term. We’re going to try to find a solution for that as well.”

Contract clouds will be lingering over the opening weeks of camp. We can only wait and see what happens from here and how decisions — or lack thereof — impact the “time horizons.” But we can say that the Vikings are blazing a unique trail that has opened the door to a fascinating summer in Eagan. The most interesting summer in a long time, in fact.

On Wednesday, the team hits the practice fields and begins forging the next phase of the plan.

“I believe we’ve done a lot to get ourselves in a position, but ultimately, we focus on the five feet in front of our face, going out every day and trying to make sure that happens,” Adofo-Mensah said. “We’re going to have new players at different positions, and we’ll see what happens, but we’re encouraged by what we’ve seen to this point.”