NFL World Confused by Vikings GM Search

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Minnesota Vikings Owner Mark Wilf
Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Minnesota Vikings slimmed their list of potential general manager candidates to five earlier this week, leaving the Wilf family, along with COO Andrew Miller, to choose between a handful of candidates who have all worked with head coach Kevin O’Connell in the past.

Yet, a bevy of questions remain surrounding what it is exactly the Vikings’ GM search party is looking for.

That’s despite Mark Wilf saying recently in an interview with Yahoo Sports that the organization is looking for someone who can be a direct representation of ownership and help bridge the gap from their offices to the locker room.

“I think we still ultimately need to have a leader who represents ownership who can kind of bring the building together,” Wilf said. “It’s not just the [scouts and executives], it’s coaches, it’s even on the business side.”

Yahoo Sports

How would any of the four remaining external candidates for the vacant MN Vikings GM position possibly be able to represent ownership better than Brzezinski, who’s been working for the team since before it was bought by the Wilfs in June, 2005?

What is really going on with the MN Vikings’ GM job?

Logically, the right answer is probably “none of the above”. So, why the dog and pony show? Why bring in all of these other candidates when Rob seems like the obvious man for the job?

Well, that question has lead many to wonder whether or not the Wilfs might be planning a structural change inside the front office.

It could make a lot of sense for the Vikings to promote Brzezinski as their new president of football operations, then hire a GM to be head of the scouting department. It’s a structure other organizations around modern major professional sports deploy.

This way, the Vikings would get their bridge to ownership, while also hiring a scouting-style GM who would work below, and report to Brzezinski would make a ton of sense.

However, when asked if that might be the MN Vikings’ ultimate plan, Mark Wilf has made it quite clear that’s NOT the case. They want to hire one general manager, and that’s it.

Rob seems like a no-brainer… or does he?

So, if we take Mark at his word, and Brzezinski is hired. This hiring process will be sold as a way to vindicate what the organization already knew about Rob. The bigger questions arise out of the fallout if the longtime Minnesota Vikings executive does NOT win the job.

What happens if John McKay (Rams Assistant GM) or Nolan Teasley (Seahawks assistant GM) get the job. Most NFL insiders who have gone down this rabbit hole have a hard time seeing Brzezinski leaving the Vikings.

However, others have suggested that Rob may not be all that willing to fall in line behind a different general manager who’s probably less qualified than he is for the MN Vikings GM job job.

Given his history with the organization, and after leading the Vikings this offseason, it’s hard for anyone familiar with the situation imagine a new GM stepping in just to have Rob’s shadow cast over him on a daily basis.

Could money be influencing Vikings GM vs PoFO stance?

So, what is happening? That’s the thing. Nobody can logically answer that question. There have even been whispers over whether or not the Wilfs’ anti-PoFO stance might stem from an unwillingness to pay both a new GM, and give pay Rob a president of football ops salary — which would ultimately cost the Wilfs millions of more dollars per year.

We know the Wilf family has been open to spending money at every turn, pretty much since the moment they purchased the team. But they are certainly in cost-savings mode this offseason, no matter your belief as to why.

Could money also be playing a major role in their search for a new leader of their football ops department… and exactly what titles they have bestowed on them? Thankfully, time will reveal the answers to these questions.

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