At some point, we are going to have to seriously ask ourselves if Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah knows what he is doing. Whether it be his methodology in NFL Drafts or how he choses to let star players go in free agency, it is hard for me to get behind what he is doing. I love Kevin O'Connell as a head coach and an offensive mind, but he is never given the best of ingredients.
Shortly after cut day, the Vikings did make a change to their quarterback room. They moved on from second-year pro Jaren Hall out of BYU in favor of signing veteran journeyman Brett Rypien after he was released by the division rival Chicago Bears. Is Rypien better than Hall? Oh, absolutely! However, it was Adofo-Mensah who used fifth-round pick on the former BYU Cougars standout back in 2023...
Rypien will compete with backup Nick Mullens in the same Vikings quarterback room headlined by Sam Darnold. These guys were all studs at college in different conferences, but have had fleeting success in the NFL on a multitude of teams. What the Vikings have here are a plethora of other teams' castoffs. There is nothing wrong with that, unless you are adamant about making the postseason...
It would honestly not shock me if Rypien started two or three games for the Vikings this NFL season.
If the team is as bad as I think they will be, Zygi Wilf needs to the do the right thing and get a new GM.
Admittedly, I might be underselling how good of a coach O'Connell may be, and I am still really high on the guy. Brian Flores is an exceptional defensive mind coordinating this defense. Again, this is a Vikings team with a ton of interesting offensive weapons at its disposal in Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson. However, I just feel that the overall roster construction is incongruent.
Even if the Vikings are better than I think they, which is entirely possible because they have a good football culture, I look at the NFC North as a whole and will take every one of their rivals over them, even the usually hapless Bears. There is a chance this might be the best division in football top to bottom, but only the cream will rise to the top. I wonder if the Vikings can even get to .500 this year.
The good news is Rypien is a capable spot-starter in this league, whereas I am not entirely sure Hall is an NFL quarterback. Again, the Vikings did improve their quarterback room by raising their floor, but that does not mean they have improved their ceiling. Anytime you cut a draft pick within the first two years of him being on the team is not a great look, especially a team took him in the first five rounds.
While the Rypien signing is an improvement for this team, it feels like too little, too late for the Vikings.
