The Minnesota Vikings had a rough 2025 season, which ended with the team missing the NFL Playoffs. That was a tough turn of events for the franchise, who excelled in 2024. New information is coming to light about how Minnesota went about trying to put together a strong squad ahead of the 2025 campaign.
It appears the Vikings had a chance at signing Aaron Rodgers, but the organization ended up going in a different direction.
“In the end, the Vikings opted against that route, thinking that they’d be better off assessing (J.J.) McCarthy’s talent early in his rookie contract. The Vikings assessed the potential fit of veterans Joe Flacco and Ryan Tannehill, who wanted a starter-level contract, according to league sources,” The Athletic reported. “The Vikings traded for backup Sam Howell, who did not establish trust in training camp, then later settled on Carson Wentz. The ramifications of those choices only added to the building-wide stress of McCarthy’s poor 2025 season.”
It appears some people in the organization regret the decision not to sign Rodgers.
“I would still like to know who made that final decision (not to sign Rodgers). I still don’t know. What I do know is it affected a lot of livelihoods,” a team source said.
The Vikings finished the 2025 season with a 9-8 overall record.
Vikings are making front office changes ahead of the 2026 season
Minnesota fired general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in recent days, as the franchise looks to rebuild. Adofo-Mensah was part of the team who drafted McCarthy, and also decided not to pursue Rodgers. He had been with the team since 2022.
“I’m not shocked that he was let go,” one team source texted to the outlet. “I’m just shocked at the timing.”
Adofo-Mensah was one of the more inexperienced general managers in the NFL. He had addressed the difficulty of the job.
“You just learn about a lot of this through trial by fire,” Adofo-Mensah said to ESPN, before he was eventually fired.
Vikings fans hope the team can return to the postseason in 2026.
