As a Vikings fan, I see a lot of Kwesi slander. A large, or at least loud, portion of the fanbase sits firmly in the camp of disdain. Is this a fair critique of his 3 years as GM or just a byproduct of being a fan of a franchise whose most reliable output is heartbreak? Let’s get into it.

The Case Against: The Draft

From what I can see, most of the Kwesi hate comes from the seemingly lackluster draft production the franchise has endured throughout his tenure as GM. One of these classes stands out above the rest. Minnesota’s 2022 draft is infamous. I could list all the names of players either not with the team or still rostered but complete busts, yet I think the best way to explain this debacle is summed up with the following: The 6th round selection of Jalen Nailor is the only remotely meaningful contributor from the entire draft, and it’s at WR3. Woof. That’s some pretty reasonable evidence to support the fan base’s displeasure. If you tried to construct a draft where you selected 10 players who all missed, you couldn’t. Yet, that’s essentially what happened.

The 2023 draft is a bit more nuanced. With only 6 picks, it appears as if Jordan Addison is the only viable selection. JA was the 23rd overall pick and an argument can be made that hitting on a player that high is expected and not the win it may seem. That’s fair. No other pick in this draft has made much of a contribution but that doesn’t really tell the entire story. For the sake of structure, we will get to that in a bit.

The most recent draft class, 2024, is a complete work in progress. Detractors would say the only real positive output came from your 6th round selection of a kicker. This would ‘technically’ be accurate, but again, there’s more to explore here.

The Case For: Free Agency

Even the biggest Kwesi critics have to acknowledge what was done with the 2024 free agency class. The players they signed should be enough to make this point and I’ll get to them but I’d argue the players they let go are just as important. First and foremost, letting Kirk Cousins walk. Even in a vacuum that ignores what Sam Darnold did, Kirk’s season in Atlanta was a disaster. What a massive bullet dodged. Not resigning Kirk allowed the team to come into this year with their salary cap reset and no longterm obligations to a player who clearly couldn’t get them over the hump and would have required an enormous monetary commitment. Huge win. The Vikings also let Danielle Hunter leave. This is not the same situation. Hunter was just as good as he’s ever been in Houston. He would have been great in purple too. So why is this another win? Hunter’s cap hit of over 20 million this year was used to sign multiple studs (we will get to these players shortly). I loved Hunter. He’s a phenomenal player but even the biggest Danielle supporter would have to admit that money was spent wisely elsewhere.

As mentioned, the money saved by not brining back Danielle Hunter was spent on 3 defensive building blocks. Those players? Blake Cashman, Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel. I’m not even sure what more can be said about this trio. Anyone who followed this team understands what they got from them. Even the most pessimistic haters would struggle to poke holes in these signings. I actually welcome that. Please give me comments about why this sucked, it would give me life.

Oh yeah, they also signed Sam Darnold. Again, I don’t really know what can be said about this that we are all not painfully aware of. 14 wins. He killed it. Moving on.

The Case For: The Draft (Yeah, I’m Going There)

2022 is indefensible. I won’t even try. HOWEVER, I will defend 2023 and 2024. 2023 gave the Vikings Jordan Addison, Mekhi Blackmon, Ivan Pace (UDFA but still counts) and essentially T.J. Hockenson (via trading of picks). That’s not bad. Nothing needs to be said about any of those players except Blackmon. He flashed in his rookie year but exploded his knee day one of training camp this season so I understand anyone who doesn’t consider him a win. I’m not saying he is Revis reincarnated but I do see him as a solid CB2 going forward.

That leads us to the 2024 class. This one is a bit tougher. You might say the Vikings only got a 6th round kicker as their only real contributor this year and you’d be right! I don’t believe this is a fair reflection of the class. J.J. McCarthy is purple Jesus. I know he blew out his knee during his first and only preseason action but I still remain adamant. I also know that they traded quite a bit in order to move up for Dallas Turner and his contributions were limited at best. I could go on and on about why I love both of these players but that doesn’t really matter. There’s no defending an injury and Turner wasn’t close to a finished product on draft night. This is simultaneously the flimsiest and potentially greatest argument in favor of Kwesi. If McCarthy is the truth, we forget about 2022 so fast and crown the GM as a folk hero who never pays for a drink or sleeps alone in the state of Minnesota. This notch in the pro column really comes down to my unwavering love for J.J. McCarthy. I have been, and will continue to be, his biggest fan boy. As I have stated previously, at great length here, J.J. is that dude.

Verdict

I think it’s pretty obvious I am a Kwesi apologist. Much like Kathleen Kennedy, we have to remember that while we love to blame them for the bad moves we also have to recognize the good things they are responsible for as well. Kwesi is undeniably intelligent and appears to involve the rest of his staff in roster building decisions. The draft is such a crap shoot that I have more patience than most. I do, however, totally understand the ire from a large portion of the fanbase. This offseason is the most important in recent Vikings history. They are out of cap hell with a QB on a rookie deal. Plenty of money to spend on a free agent class that is rich with potential team needs. They do not have the type of draft capital one might prefer but the depth at positions like DT and RB, two big needs, is enough for them to supplement any missed opportunities from free agency. The future is bright in Minnesota. I’m very excited to see how it plays out.