As NFL combine opens, Kirk Cousins, Justin Jefferson deals on mind of Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah

INDIANAPOLIS — On his flight to his second NFL scouting combine as Vikings general manager this week, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah tried to recall his initial trip to Indianapolis and realized something: He'd been working at such a frenetic pace a year ago, he couldn't remember flying there.

"I could have been [coming from] Cleveland or California. I still don't remember," Adofo-Mensah said Tuesday. "I say that to say, last year was such a whirlwind. So many things were happening, flying around, if I was on that flight, I was probably doing 80 different things at once and didn't realize it, so that dynamic has slowed down."

Adofo-Mensah is more comfortable now, after a season when the Vikings exceeded expectations and went 13-4 on the way to their first NFC North title in five years. But even if his days are calmer than they were last year, the decisions he must make in the next several weeks are no less consequential.

The Vikings must clear more than $23 million in salary cap space by the time the league year begins on March 15, which could require them to part with a number of well-known (and high-priced) veterans. Adofo-Mensah will also have to determine whether the Vikings should give a fourth contract to quarterback Kirk Cousins, who is scheduled to be a free agent after the 2023 season and seems inclined toward a longer deal than he's signed in the past, and oversee negotiations on the long-term contract with wide receiver Justin Jefferson that Adofo-Mensah said the team is eager to complete.

Adofo-Mensah said the decisions the Vikings will make in the next two weeks are things "we kind of saw coming" a year ago. "You don't just show up the next year and be like, 'New problems,'" he said. But the Vikings' ability to defend their NFC North title in 2023 could hinge on whether they make the right decisions heading into free agency.

"I see what these guys go through. I see those close games," Adofo-Mensah said. "People want to make it about the situational masters, and it is, but it's also about people who show up in those bright moments. I think that stuff is so critical. I want to communicate to them my appreciation and again, it's always going to be solutions-oriented. 'Can we find a way to work together within our time horizon?' If not the case, we might not be together, but I hope three years, four years down the line we'll be able to laugh and enjoy these moments we had together and appreciate them and just know that sometimes business comes and there's different solutions that need to happen."

The Cousins decision, seemingly an annual rite of passage at the combine, will face the Vikings again, with the Pro Bowl quarterback headed toward his 35th birthday in August. Adofo-Mensah said several times Tuesday that Cousins is good enough for the Vikings to win, while praising the relationships he and coach Kevin O'Connell have with the quarterback and saying, "you don't want to just be firing random darts at a quarterback, especially with someone like Kevin who knows that relationship and how important it is."

Adofo-Mensah also said the Vikings would prefer not to play a young quarterback on Day One in 2023, building on his postseason comments about how the Vikings expect Cousins to be their quarterback next season. The terms under which that happens, though, could be up for discussion.

Cousins is scheduled to count for $36.25 million against the Vikings' 2023 cap and earn a $20 million roster bonus on March 17, so the Vikings could again look to reduce his cap number through an extension. Indications at the combine this week, though, have been that Cousins is less interested in a one-year extension like he signed last March, and Adofo-Mensah seemed to acknowledge as much on Tuesday.

"Obviously from their side, they want it as certain as possible, and from our side, we want flexibility," Adofo-Mensah said. "You're always trying to be solutions-oriented and find a way that works for both people. ... He has as much importance to this organization and maybe more than I do, so we all have to be on the same page and make sure that relationship works."

Adofo-Mensah also said the Vikings would keep Jefferson "in all our conversations" about how they build the roster, praising the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year's attitude and work habits while saying he has "as high an impact as some quarterbacks in this league."

He called an extension for Jefferson a "priority," adding, "I don't want to be the Vikings' GM without this guy on our team." Given the fact a Jefferson deal could be worth more than $30 million per season, the Vikings might need to attend to some of their other business before they can sign Jefferson long-term.

"The first time I met him, actually, we walked in the building and I made a joke about something that was happening [with contracts] at the wide receiver position at the time," Adofo-Mensah said. "I just laughed and said, 'We won't have any issues.' He said, 'I just want to put wins on the board.' Didn't smile and wasn't really like, 'Haha.' The way he said it, that's the guy you see on Sundays. Won't turn down double teams, whole defenses trying to stop him, and he's trying to put the Minnesota Vikings on his back to win a championship. When you have guys like that in your building, you try everything you can not to let them out."

Between Cousins, Jefferson and the futures of mainstays like Adam Thielen, Eric Kendricks and Harrison Smith, the Vikings could reshape their future in the coming weeks.

"I have to make sure they know that I'm not this person up there who treats them as objects, [but] knows the commitment they take and the families they have," Adofo-Mensah said. "How I want to do this job is human-first, honorable, genuine, authentic, and if that's not good enough, it's not going to be good enough. But it's got to be on my terms and how I want to be remembered."