In an interview recently, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah met with USA Today reporter Jori Epstein where he made comments that have now spiraled into a bit of a controversy regarding Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. These comments have blown up in the media, causing some concern among Vikings fans. So, to ease the confusion of what went down, let’s look at what was said, what it likely meant and if there is any reason to be concerned.
What Kwesi Said In The Interview About Kirk Cousins
“I’ll be frank. The one asset where you get nervous about not burning it down is quarterback. [We have a] a good quarterback. But we don’t have Tom Brady, we don’t have Pat Mahomes. [The Super Bowl] is more likely to win if you have that quarterback. It’s very unlikely to have that quarterback.”
This is what has been circulating around and getting the most attention in the media. Kwesi isn’t wrong, Kirk is not a Brady or Mahomes. He also is right that most teams are unlikely to have that caliber of quarterback. Kwesi didn’t say that Kirk isn’t a good quarterback because he is. He also doesn’t say they can’t win with him. What Kwesi does say is that it is a lot harder if you don’t have a Brady or Mahomes type quarterback, which is true.
What Adofo-Mensah Said In The Rest Of The Interview
“On the math side, I hope it’s not going to sound arrogant, but I speak that better than any other GM. I don’t know that I speak (football) better than them, but my worst thing is probably better than their worst thing. You know what I mean? So, I think my ability to communicate in really every room in the football building makes me unique. Now still: You’ve got to build a football team.”
“There is a threshold of championship talent. I study these things. I know them. And if you don’t have them, you don’t win. That’s very binary. The way you can screw up in this job is deceiving yourself that you’re there.” I believe in decision science and our abilities. I don’t believe that I can pick the next Pat Mahomes that much better than anybody. If you give me five chances, I think we’d be better and we’d get four out of five rather than (others’) three out of five. But one shot, your odds are at best 65% so they study this. It’s a little overconfident to think we’d be able to find the next one with certainty.
“Sometimes information comes as numbers and it’s really great, and sometimes they come as scouts reading reports and that’s great too. So, I think my best skill set is my ability to be multilingual and speak all of those languages.”
“If it were a seven-game series, yeah, best team wins. That’s ultimately why when you’re team building, you never want to go full Rams. Because you need to give yourself three chances at it, four years at it. I know that’s hard for fans to hear.”
What Does This All Mean?
Well, it shows how much of a numbers and information gathering guy Kwesi is. He is also very confident (bordering on arrogant) of his talents and his ability to communicate with everyone. This is shown throughout the interview as he speaks of his ability to speak in numerous rooms about football to different people. He talks about how his “best skill set is my ability to multilingual and speak all of those languages”.
Kwesi then goes on to talk about what it takes to win a championship or get to that level of competition. He is aware of the process and time it takes to get to that level of contention. He also mentions his search for the next Patrick Mahomes and looking for that great quarterback that can give the Vikings a better chance of competing for and winning a Super Bowl. Lastly, he ends with saying how he doesn’t “want to go full Rams” and how he sees it as a process that takes years to achieve.
Should There Be Cause For Concern?
No, there should be no reason for concern. He said nothing that we didn’t already know about Kirk Cousins. Should he maybe have chosen his words a bit more carefully? Probably. Should he have said anything about looking for a Mahomes or Brady? Probably not. Although, every team who doesn’t have an elite quarterback should be on the lookout regardless of whether you have a Kirk Cousins or a Drew Lock.
Lastly, to show that what he said about Kirk isn’t anything to worry about, here is an interview from training camp about him talking about the team, including Cousins. In the interview he talks about how impressed he’s been with Cousin’s mindset and how he has taken to the offense. Kwesi also shares how they have a really good team and likes what they have brought in and back and how this has made the Vikings a deep team. He mentions how the Vikings have built the team to keep their window open in the future while still being able to contend this season. All-in-all, don’t worry about these comments and don’t buy into what everyone else is saying in the media. He knows what he’s doing, he likes Kirk, and it should be a good year in Minnesota.