No NFL team has fewer than the four draft picks the Minnesota Vikings currently own. GeneralManagerr Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is aware of that. He's also used to maneuvering up and down the draft board, adding additional picks when needed, and spending extra capital to move up to select players with high value.
Will Ragatz of Sports Illustrated highlighted Adofo-Mensah's interview with Vikings Entertainment Network (VEN) host Tatum Everett this week. The fourth-year GM knows he can add picks if the board calls for it.
Obviously, the capital is something people talk about, but every draft pick has a commensurate value that you can kind of break up into lots of picks. If we wanted to pick 15 times, we could. There's a way to do that.
Adofo-Mensah also acknowledges that the Vikings are in a great spot heading into the draft. Although they don't have many picks, they addressed most of their key needs in free agency. They could use depth and youth behind some of those players, but they can allow the board to fall how it may without feeling they've missed out on addressing a key need.
We're just going to be smart, selective, try and find the best players that impact our team. But also knowing, 'how do you best move around the board to get the best total collection of players?' That's how we'll approach it. I think we'll be a 'best available' kind of approach and mindset. I'm excited about that. I challenged our group, we have grand ambition, and maybe it'll be the coolest story ever that you went into the draft with four picks and you did something great with it.
This could mean the Vikings still select an interior defensive lineman, even after adding Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave last month. Both are over 30 and are coming off serious injuries. They could look to add to their secondary, which has lots of promise but also many question marks. Or they could look to add a final piece to their offensive line, finding a potential upgrade from left guard Blake Brandel.
The Vikings could address any one of these needs at 24. But if the board doesn't fall how they want, Adofo-Mensah could look to trade down and recover lost draft capital. And he appears ready to do so if the situation arises.
This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: Vikings GM shares thoughts behind adding draft picks in 2025
