The details surrounding Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's firing was puzzling. I break down what I've read, what I've heard, what his track record is and why I think there's more at play than him simply being bad at drafting www.wideleft.football/p/the-kwesi-...

I also share Luke's feeling here. To be clear, my opinion is that Kwesi shouldn't have been fired, but I think the firing is an easy sell, like Luke said just point to the drafting. As you go through it, the timing and articles explaining it make the case for firing Kwesi LESS convincing, not more.

Maybe I should have made Arif let me contribute to his article about firing Kwesi instead, but I threaded about my feelings around the reporting about his firing. I find it interesting that throughout the articles there are many things painted in a negative light that feel like positives to me.

I dug through three articles (Alec Lewis/Dianna Russini at the Athletic, Kevin Siefert at ESPN, and Matthew Coller at Purple Insider) to compare their notes on the Kwesi Adofo-Mensah firing and try to get to the bottom of it. Here are my thoughts. (links to articles at the bottom of the thread)

Masterful gambit to commit multiple paragraphs to something that Kwesi apparently did NOT get fired for in your article giving reasons why Kwesi got fired. Very logical, just top tier work.

Last thought on Kwesi - whatever the "tension" in the Vikings' building was, I really, REALLY hope the idiots that wanted Aaron Rodgers to be QB of the Vikings didn't just win a power struggle.

More thoughts on Kwesi. The draft results were obviously bad. But we also KNOW the draft is very random. It's difficult to consistently outperform there. There's a lot more GMs that started off hot and then got worse than started off bad and got better but that could easily be survivorship bias.

The timing of this move is baffling to me. Why wait three weeks? Why even do it this season? Last offseason, you basically committed to a two year plan with the roster. I get that QB didn't go as you hoped but why not ride it out? Is there some sort of power struggle behind the scenes?

Had @friesfootball.bsky.social write the second installment in this trilogy - Vikings’ Offseason Plan, Part 2: Should They Stay Or Should They Go? www.wideleft.football/p/vikings-of...

The Vikings have 21 players scheduled to become Free Agents in March. Who should they keep, and who should they let walk? How much will it cost to keep the players that are on expiring contracts? I examined every player in my latest for Wide Left: www.wideleft.football/p/vikings-of...

How can the Vikings dig out of a $49 million dollar cap hole for 2026? It's easier than you probably think. I explain how the salary cap works, and develop a plan to get the Vikings under the cap. My latest for Wide Left: www.wideleft.football/p/vikings-of...

At Wide Left, @friesfootball.bsky.social wrote about the Vikings cap space — Vikings' Offseason Plan, Part 1: How to Create $49 Million in Cap Space www.wideleft.football/p/vikings-of...

It's been awesome to watch CJ Ham play for the Minnesota Vikings. To honor his potential retirement, I dove deep into what he actually *did* as an FB and special teamer Check out what made him a crucial part of the team in my latest for Wide Left: www.wideleft.football/p/cj-ham-is-...

Over at Wide Left, @friesfootball.bsky.social wrote up his Ode to Ham, breaking down what made this Vikings stalwart so great www.wideleft.football/p/cj-ham-is-...

Sean McVay is actively harming my mental health.

Not surprised. The Vikings clearly need do to something different on the OL. If the Falcons don't retain Dwayne Ledford, I'd pay him whatever he wants to join the Vikings' staff.

(3/3) Wide Left produced our end-of-season awards, explaining in exhaustive detail why we voted for who we did in MVP, Players of the Year, Rookies of the Year, Coaches of the Year and our All-Pro teams www.wideleft.football/p/wide-left-...

Good week at Wide Left (1/3) - Living in the Twin Cities as a brown person, having experienced the post-9/11 atmosphere, I wrote about the recent history of modern American warfare at home and abroad www.wideleft.football/p/at-war-at-...

(2/3) @friesfootball.bsky.social wrote about Harrison Smith, Harrison's Hall of Fame Case and Harrison Smith means so much to Matt, personally www.wideleft.football/p/to-honor-h...

Harrison Smith may have played his last NFL game. I reflected on his career in my latest for Wide Left: www.wideleft.football/p/to-honor-h...

Now at Wide Left - @friesfootball.bsky.social wrote about Harrison Smith, his Hall of Fame case, and what watching Smith meant for Matt's football journey www.wideleft.football/p/to-honor-h...

Wide Left's crew — me, @katson.bsky.social, @devinjackson.bsky.social, @dantecollinelli.bsky.social, @friesfootball.bsky.social, @noflagsfilm.bsky.social and @lukebraunnfl.bsky.social — voted for end-of year awards MVP, POYs, ROYs, HCOY and our All-Pro teams www.wideleft.football/p/wide-left-...

Vikings receiving All Pro votes: FB CJ Ham (2 points) WR Justin Jefferson (1) RT Brian O'Neill (1) IDL Jalen Redmond (1) LB Eric Wilson (3, 1 first team) S Harrison Smith (1) K Will Reichard (55, 15 first team) P Ryan Wright (8, 1 first team) PR Myles Price (1) LS Andrew DePaola (31, 9 first team)

Will Reichard's Pro Bowl snub was fixed

If the Vikings lose Brian Flores and the Lions hire Mike McDaniel in this coaching cycle I am going to be despondent.

Fewest team passing yards, 2025: NYJ vs DEN, Week 6: -10 GB @ MIN, Week 18: -7 MIN vs DET, Week 17: 3 NYG vs MIN, Week 16: 13 Hilarious football team. If the Vikings had made the playoffs I predict that Max Brosmer would have turned in a -17 passing yards performance.

That's so petty. 10/10 preseason game.

JJ McCarthy is the best QB to have played in this game by about a million miles. He's also probably played below the level you would expect from an average NFL starter. We're watching art.

A ten yard out being "one of the best passes we've seen" from Brosmer is simultaneously ridiculous and true. Hilarious call.

The Packers now have -13 net passing yards after taking that sack

Torodol wore off?

Vikings ticking all of the boxes this game except "JJ McCarthy looks incredible"

JJ McCarthy really looked like he's in pain on the shot of him coming out of the break.

Dying that the concept of a 2000 yard "leadership" season

Check out my latest for Wide Left, where I go over the tape of the biggest defensive contributors in the Vikings' whiteout win against the Detroit Lions: www.wideleft.football/p/the-viking...

New at Wide Left: @friesfootball.bsky.social breaks down three key players in the Vikings Whiteout game versus Detroit www.wideleft.football/p/the-viking...

They ended with 3 btw. Brian Flores is a genius.

Two days ago I wrote a whole article about how embarrassing it was for the Giants to have 13 net passing yards in a game. The Vikings currently have -7 net passing yards.

Happy holidays! Check out my piece on Brian Flores and the Vikings' defense dismantling Jaxson Dart and the Giants' passing attack. New for Wide Left: www.wideleft.football/p/brian-flor...

Merry Christmas Eve! Brian Flores put Jaxson Dart in a blender, by @friesfootball.bsky.social www.wideleft.football/p/brian-flor...

Watching back the first half of the offense from yesterday and both Kevin O'Connell and JJ McCarthy did a great job in my opinion. A couple of lapses, but strong execution for McCarthy and O'Connell was consistently getting guys open.

JJ McCarthy is unreasonably good at this one specific throw.

Blake Cashman is good man

Outside of literally two plays McCarthy looked really good in that half so of course he got hurt on the second of those bad plays

Aaron Jones is not healthy dude lol

Brian Flores is completely overwhelming Jaxson Dart.

The Vikings had exactly what they wanted on that third down with Nailor at the pylon and McCarthy just didn't throw it. Horrible turndown.

How is the scorebug still wrong in this game? It's 6-3 right?

The two games where this offense didn't shoot themselves in the foot constantly were nice

CATCH THE BALL!!!!