Ryan Grigson - Minnesota Vikings
Credit: Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings
I’m not sure the Wilfs have thought about it but the Minnesota Vikings owners might want to open up a law office at the compound they are building in Eagan, around TCO Performance Center. At this point, Vikings attorneys have been drafting up enough contracts give it a shot.
They started by extending Kevin O’Connell, just weeks after the 2024-25 season ended. Then, they turned to 2025 player personnel, using their lut of salary cap space to spend more total dollars in free agency than any other team in the league.
Ryan Grigson - Minnesota Vikings
Credit: Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah threw around all that cash carefully, using it to ink Vikings UFAs including Byron Murphy Jr and Harrison Smith, along with notable new faces on both sides of the football, especially in the trenches.
Then, after things cooled down for a little while, the Vikings turned their contract printer settings to “executive” and finally got a new deal done with their GM, an extension that was promised to Kwesi months prior, back when KOC got his new contract.
Included with the Adofo-Mensah extension came reports that his “top lieutenants” — Ryan Grigson and Demitrius Washington — were in for promotions as well. On Wednesday, those deals were announced, along with matching new titles of “Assistant GM”.
The Vikings on Wednesday announced they have promoted Ryan Grigson and Demitrius Washington to Assistant General Manager positions.
“We’re proud of the continued growth and evolution of our entire football staff as we enter 2025. Our success is built on the dedication of our talented individuals who bring unique strengths to the table as we push forward to our ultimate goal of bringing a championship to Minnesota.” — Kwesi Adofo-Mensah
Minnesota Vikings Press Release
Ryan Grigson: Senior Vice President of Player Personnel –> Assistant General Manager
Ryan Grigson is more of a household football fan name, due to his five years as GM of the Indianapolis Colts from 2012-2016. By the time he was fired, Grigson was painted as the reason why Andrew Luck retired early, after he failed to put a requisite team around his superstar QB, who wound up losing his love for football in the process.
I will forever hate Ryan Grigson & what he did to Andrew Luck and my mentals as a Colts fan#Colts #ForTheShoe pic.twitter.com/ZqldOmMd0D
— Ati (@atioberoi) April 12, 2025
Grigson drafted Luck No. 1 overall out of Stanford during his first offseason running the Colts show. While in charge, Ryan Grigson’s Colts went 49-31, in large part thanks to how good Luck was. After Grigson left Indianapolis, Luck spent all of 2017 out with injury, before retiring two years later (2019).
Related: Christian Darrisaw Looks Further Along Than Expected…
Before he came to the Vikings, prior to the 2022 season, where he’s served as Kwesi’s Senior Vice President of Player Personnel, Grigson worked as an advisor and executive two different times for the Browns (2017, 2020-2021). In between stops in Cleveland, he was a “senior football consultant” for two seasons (2018-19) with the Seattle Seahawks.
Demitrius Washington: Vice President of Player Personnel –> Assistant General Manager
Demitrius Washington - Minnesota Vikings
Credit: Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings
Demitrius Washington enters his fourth season with the Vikings in 2025, as well. He previously carried the same role as Grigson (Vice President of Player Personnel), but without the “senior” title.
Washington spent 2015-21 with the San Francisco 49ers, where he worked with Kwesi for the first time. He is the lesser-known of the two now-assistant GMs, but certainly the one with the brighter future, just given his age and career trajectory.
Mentioned in this article: Contract Extension Demitrius Washington Ryan Grigson More About:Minnesota Vikings