Vikings add former Colts GM Ryan Grigson to front office

The Vikings are continuing to add to their front office under new General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.

The team hired former Colts GM Ryan Grigson to a senior personnel position. Grigson, who worked in advisory and consulting roles the past four seasons, had been with Adofo-Mensah in Cleveland for the past two years.

While the Vikings' full front office structure will be determined after the draft, Grigson is expected to work closely with Adofo-Mensah, and figures to provide another perspective for the first-year general manager while co-directors of player personnel Ryan Monnens and Jamaal Stephenson continue to oversee the team's scouting department.

"I am thrilled to add Ryan Grigson to our staff," Adofo-Mensah said in a statement. "During my time in Cleveland, I was immediately drawn to Ryan's passion for the game, big heart, and reflective wisdom. He is a talented evaluator who brings energy and humor to every discussion. As a former general manager in the NFL, Ryan offers complementary skills to help me in my transition in becoming general manager and brings energy and humor to the room."

Grigson was the GM in Indianapolis from 2012-16, drafting quarterback Andrew Luck first overall in 2012 after he succeeded Bill Polian. Several publications named Grigson the league's executive of the year after the Colts went from 2-14 to 11-5 in 2012, and Indianapolis reached the AFC Championship Game after the 2014 season, losing to the Patriots in the famous "Deflategate" game.

Though the Colts went 52-34 with him as general manager, Grigson was fired after the 2016 season after owner Jim Irsay tried unsuccessfully to mend the relationship between the GM and coach Chuck Pagano.

"What I really think that I wasn't able to ever do in that time I was there was really get to be a human at times," Grigson said in a 2018 interview with Sirius XM radio. "I hunkered down and just was laser-focused. I probably should have pressed pause and took some time to breathe for a second and communicate better to let people in more. I was only like that with my inner circle."

He joined the Browns for the 2017 season in a senior front office role after the Colts fired him, and worked as a consultant for the Seahawks from 2018-19 before returning to Cleveland the past two seasons.