Vikings finalists for vacant GM job revealed

The Minnesota Vikings revealed two finalists for their vacant general manager job on Friday — Chiefs executive director of player personnel Ryan Poles and Browns VP of Football Operations Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.

Both candidates are relatively young, as Poles is 36 years old and Adofo-Mensah is 40 years old. Poles would be the more traditional route, as he has a scouting background. Adofo-Mensah has a process-oriented background, meanwhile.

Whoever does take over for former general manager Rick Spielman will have a number of tough decisions to make, starting with the head coaching position. Minnesota parted ways with head coach Mike Zimmer after the season as well, in which they missed the playoffs and severely under-performed despite what on the surface looks like a strong roster.

Who should Vikings hire as next general manager?

Poles comes from one of the more successful organizations in the NFL and recent professional sports in the Chiefs. He’s a Boston College grad who also played college football and blocked for quarterback Matt Ryan.

The o-line has been an issue with Minnesota for quite some time, and bringing in a GM who can easily fill that void would make a lot of sense. Poles helped revamp the Chiefs offensive line on the fly last offseason, signing the likes of Joe Thuney and trading for Orlando Brown. KC also drafted Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith.

Adofo-Mensah, meanwhile is one of the more trusted front office voices in Cleveland and has a background in analytics. He interviewed for the Panthers general manager job just last offseason.