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The Minnesota Vikings have conducted a total of eight interviews for their vacant GM position throughout the last week. It was reported on Friday afternoon that the team is getting closer to filling that open role.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported that the two finalists are Chiefs executive director of player personnel Ryan Poles and Browns VP of Football Operations Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
Both candidates are in their 30s and are hotter names in terms of the candidates interviewing in this year's cycle.
Poles has worked his way up the Chiefs organization and was the Director of College Scouting the year they drafted Patrick Mahomes. That decision has labeled Kansas City as contenders since Mahomes took over the starting role and brought back a Lombardi Trophy shortly after.
Adofo-Mensah is the younger of the two and doesn’t stem from a football only background. He’s been labeled as an analytical minded candidate who has his master’s degree in economics. Although the Browns haven’t won a Super Bowl, Adofo-Mensah was a part of one of the better draft classes in 2021. Prior to his years in Cleveland, he spent the previous seven years working in football research and development in San Francisco.
Poles and Adofo-Mensah should get Vikings fans excited despite it being their first chance at a GM role. The staff members involved in the hiring process clearly think both candidates will bring in a much-needed culture change, something Mark Wilf made very clear in his press conference following the firing of Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer.
This also means the Vikings would be a step closer at finding their next head coach, as ownership has stated that the GM will be involved in the hiring process once they’re brought in.
If one of these two are hired, two possible candidates that have ties to the Vikings vacant head coaching position could follow. Eric Bienemy has ties to Poles in Kansas City, whereas DeMeco Ryans has ties to Adofo-Mensah from his time in San Francisco.
There’s a lot of change occurring within the Vikings front office, and that can sometimes be scary. However, it was time for the Vikings to make a change, and they now have two strong candidates as the finalists for their GM role.
For more updates on the Vikings GM search make sure to tune into KFAN 100.3 and stay up to date on KFAN.com.