The Minnesota Vikings are 0-2 and this week they made the decision to take action.
They began by giving Dalton Risner a one-year contract in order to strengthen the offensive line’s depth (and likely starter).
When the Vikings acquired running back Cam Akers through a trade on Wednesday night, they made a further advancement.
According to reports, the Rams trade RB Cam Akers to the Vikings.
Both actions can be attributed to general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s philosophy of midseason roster evaluations and upgrades if an opportunity arises. But after a little under 19 months on the job, Adofo-Mensah’s tenure is beginning to resemble that of Rick Spielman, his predecessor.
Looking at Spielman’s departure from Minnesota serves as the introduction to the chapter.
Spielman oversaw an overachieving team that made the playoffs and finished 5-10-1 in 2013 after taking over as general manager in 2012. Spielman was able to build a roster through the draft and astute free-agent signings as a result of the full-blown rebuild that followed the lost season. Eric Kendricks, Stefon Diggs, and Danielle Hunter were selected in the 2015 NFL Draft, which was the best in franchise history.
The Vikings reached the 2017 NFC Championship Game thanks to Spielman’s early choices, which started a successful streak.
However, that achievement raised standards, and Spielman chased after them in vain until Minnesota fired him in 2022.
Spielman spent the last five years trying to extract every last drop of energy from an ailing core.
Ageing players received long-term contracts from him like Snickers at Halloween.
He accumulated Day 3 draft picks like, well, a Halloween trick-or-treater collecting Snickers bars.
Spielman desperately searched for a trade after a slew of one-year deals to prove themselves couldn’t save the Vikings.
Spielman had the right thought, on the one hand.
One way to stay competitive is to trade for products with a track record rather than draft picks.
When Kevin O’Connell was the offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams, the “F*** them picks” mentality helped him win a championship.
Spielman, however, was more concerned with trying to fill gaps than he was with acquiring Pro Bowlers.
Sam Bradford was traded in 2016 for a first-round pick, which the Philadelphia Eagles used to select Derek Barnett, who then strip-sacked Case Keenum to effectively beat the Vikings in the 2017 NFC Championship game.
2018 was supposed to be the year that Kaare Vedvik, a fifth-round pick, would end the Vikings’ kicking problems.
The special teams phenom was later released after it was discovered that he was unable to punt or kick field goals.
Yannick Ngakoue, a Pro Bowler, was acquired by the Vikings in a trade in 2020, but only after Danielle Hunter’s neck injury ended her season.
After only six games, they traded Ngakoue, who ended up leading the team in sacks.
Following Irv Smith Jr., they also acquired Chris Herndon for a fourth-round pick. tore his meniscus during Mike Zimmer’s quest for a touchdown in the 2021 preseason finale.
The majority of these trades didn’t involve a staggering amount of draft capital, with the exception of the first-round picks in 2016 and the second-round picks in 2020.
The same can be said of Adofo-Mensah’s moves because they were all impulsive attempts to fill roster gaps.
Just before the 2022 deadline, Adofo-Mensah struck a pair of comparable agreements. He obtained Ross Blacklock from the Houston Texans and Jalen Reagor from the Eagles. Neither player is presently a member of the Vikings.
By acquiring T, Minnesota made a fortune.
J. Hockenson.
Even so, he had to go through a difficult contract negotiation and hold-in in order to surpass all previous tight end salaries in NFL history.
The moves that were canceled this week are another consideration. Adofo-Mensah didn’t appear to have given up much to complete the roster.
Risner agreed to a $4 million, one-year deal that only required $5 million in 2023 cap room.
Additionally, they struck the Akers deal, which involved trading late-round 2026 draft picks.
The thesis behind these actions, however, raises some doubts. Anyone who watched the Vikings play last season or saw Kirk Cousins get pummeled in Netflix’s Quarterback documentary could see that Minnesota needed to upgrade the offensive line, but it took a bad preseason and two losses for Adofo-Mensah to find a potential replacement for Ed Ingram and Ezra Cleveland.
Along with acting as though Alexander Mattison was their starting running back, the Vikings did nothing in response to Ty Chandler’s erratic preseason play before deciding they needed a running back upgrade.
The Vikings will now rely on Akers, who had 29 yards on 22 carries in a Week 1 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
DeWayne McBride, a seventh-round rookie, may have been their “Plan A” to eventually take over the RB1 role.
Maybe the Vikings will find Risner and Akers to be excellent additions. Still, they have the desperate air of a team trying to avoid going down 0–3.
Because of this, Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers should be very interesting.
The Vikings could have gone 0-3 in a year where it pays to perform poorly had they simply lost with the same roster.
With a young franchise quarterback, a team with multiple roster holes like the Arizona Cardinals might not quickly bounce back.
The situation for the Vikings is different, though. They already have Justin Jefferson as a top target.
Jordan Addison and Hockenson are their second-tier targets.
Additionally, they have $55 million in cap space and two important offensive tackles to fill in defensive and offensive line gaps.
The 2020 Vikings, who started 1-5 before coming back to finish 7-9 and qualify for the playoffs, are a lot like this team in many ways.
Granted, this implies that Trey Lance or Justin Fields are now most likely the Vikings’ starting quarterback.
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The front office, however, does not believe that.
They are made to be “super competitive.”. They have more timelines than Mortal Kombat.
In order to prevent a five-win season, they are unwilling to accept that they might be bad and are willing to lose more resources.
Adofo-Mensah will have the opportunity to set himself apart from Spielman on Sunday as a result.
However, given his past behavior, Risner and Akers might be the start of panicky actions that result in more of the same.