Mark Wilf, Minnesota Vikings
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(Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)
The Minnesota Vikings caught plenty of people off guard this offseason when they moved on from general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
Instead of rushing to name a replacement, the team handed the responsibilities to executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski, who will guide things through the 2026 NFL Draft.
Once that’s in the books, Minnesota plans to begin a full search for its next general manager. With the draft at the end of April, the Vikings will soon be turning their attention to who will be building this team going forward.
In an article published on April 2, Kevin Seifert of ESPN provided an update on the team’s search and whether the Vikings have a clear candidate for this job.
“But Wilf also laid out a process that would cast a wide net, including hiring a third party to help cull the list of candidates,” Seifert wrote. “A small group of existing staffers will assist in the process. Thatis expected to include O’Connell, who has a strong relationship with Brzezinski, as well as chief operating officer Andrew Miller, who led the committee that hired Adofo-Mensah.
“Wilf said the process would be ‘ownership-driven,’ but the degree to which O’Connell or Miller play a leading role could well tip the scales in the Wilfs’ final decision. Regardless, many NFL teams enter a GM or coach search with a preferred candidate in mind. In this case, the Vikings clearly do not have one.”
Two Names Have Major Doubt for Minnesota GM Role
Moreover, Seifert cast doubt on two names for the job: Brzezinski and Denver Broncos general manager George Paton, who spent time with the Vikings from 2007 to 2021.
“Some thought that Zygi and Mark Wilf were clearing a path for the return of former assistant general manager George Paton, who has spent the past five seasons as general manager of the Denver Broncos and is entering the final year of his contract,” Seifert wrote.
“Others assumed Brzezinski would eventuallybe promoted to the permanent role and that the Wilfs’ public neutrality on the question was mostly a function of the NFL mandate to conduct diverse search processes for every open GM job.
“Based on conversations in Phoenix, it’s clear that neither scenario has begun materializing — raising the real possibility that the organization will go through a second change of direction in a matter of months.”
Mark Wilf Gives Latest on Vikings GM Search
On March 31,Vikings owner and president Mark Wilf shared an update on the team’s search for a new general manager, noting that the groundwork is already in place to begin once the draft is over.
“We’re already laying the groundwork,” Wilf said. “Again, this is an ownership decision, very important for the club. But right, you know, we’re really focused on the NFL draft. We’ve got nine picks. We’re really excited about it. I think our fans should be as well.
“So we’re excited about that and focused on that. And then right after the draft, we’ll get going in terms of interviews, getting the best candidates, talking through it and making sure we have the right leader for our organization.”