The Minnesota Vikings, even without a Super Bowl to their name, have been one of the most consistent franchises in the league when it comes to playoff success and remaining competitive since their inception in 1960. A balanced roster, with strong production from its offense and defense, has made this a franchise that has not ended a season with less than seven wins in the last decade.
Lately, they’ve been taking steps forward to becoming better suited for postseason football, and as a result, they have had two 13+ win seasons in recent years (2022 and 2024). A crux of their more recent change has been the addition of a new general manager, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
How Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Went From Wall Street to the NFL
After earning a Wild Card spot in 2021, before following it up with back-to-back losing seasons, Vikings management decided that change was a necessity. As a result, they fired both head coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman.
A replacement was necessary, and they found their answer in former Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell. But for the general manager position, they took a shot at Adofo-Mensah, who had been serving as the vice president of operations for the Cleveland Browns.
Before his role in Cleveland, Adofo-Mensah had risen through the ranks of the San Francisco 49ers organization, becoming their Director of R&D after five years. However, his success with the 49ers wasn’t a guarantee. The Princeton graduate had built a solid career on Wall Street before making one of the biggest gambles of his professional life.
It was a chance encounter that set the wheels in motion for Adofo-Mensah’s career, as he left Wall Street to enter the world of football. Speaking about the risk he took at the time, to make the career switch while being perfectly stable in his role.
HELL OF A STORY: 2013, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah left a high-paying Wall Street job to take an entry-level position with the #49ers.
He made 1/20th of the salary, and his friends thought he was crazy.
Kwesi followed his dream & is now the GM of the #Vikings🤯pic.twitter.com/MS4F1WvfCa
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) July 5, 2025
“I always wanted to pivot at some point to do something different,” he began his story. “Football just came calling. I was really fortunate to go meet everybody at the Sloan Conference.”
Adofo-Mensah was speaking about the encounter with Paraag Marathe, who is San Francisco’s executive vice president of football operations and NFL cap and contract manager, that kick-started his transition into the league. The MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference has become a breeding ground for connecting Wall Street minds with professional sports organizations.
However, it wasn’t an easy road from Wall Street. “There were a lot of hard days, man.” The biggest change was the salary. “I was making 1/20th of what I made.”
At the time, there was no guarantee that his career would pan out, leading to speculation from his bosses.
“My boss, who wrote my recommendation for Stanford, when I got in and I was leaving, he’s like, ‘So you’re really going?'” He even had days where he questioned himself, Adofo-Mensah admitted. “What did I do?”
Building a Championship Culture in Minnesota
The financial sacrifice was staggering. Going from a lucrative Wall Street position to an entry-level role with the 49ers meant starting over completely. Friends and colleagues thought he had lost his mind, but Adofo-Mensah saw the bigger picture. He understood that breaking into the NFL required paying dues, regardless of his previous success in finance.
His analytical background proved invaluable in San Francisco’s front office. The 49ers were already embracing advanced analytics under general manager Trent Baalke, and Adofo-Mensah’s expertise in data analysis and financial modeling translated perfectly to salary cap management and player evaluation.
The Browns recognized his potential and brought him to Cleveland as vice president of operations, where he worked under general manager Andrew Berry. This role gave him broader exposure to all aspects of team management, from draft preparation to free agency strategy.
Now in Minnesota, Adofo-Mensah has transformed the Vikings into legitimate contenders. His first major move was hiring O’Connell, who brought an offensive system that maximized quarterback Kirk Cousins’ abilities. The team’s 13-4 record in 2022 proved that his vision was working.
As he mentioned, the path for Adofo-Mensah wasn’t easy. But he now sits comfortably in the general manager position for one of the most promising teams in the entire league. His story proves that sometimes the biggest risks lead to the greatest rewards, and he has his sights on delivering the winningest non-Super Bowl-winning team its first championship.