Maxx Crosby's extension with Raiders sends firm message about Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's brilliance proved with latest extension

It's not often that an extension that a player inks with another team will matter for the Vikings, but this one has some significance.

Last offseason, Adofo-Mensah made it his mission to fix the edge rusher position with Danielle Hunter, D.J. Wonnum, and Marcus Davenport all set to be free agents. The Vikings didn't bring any of them back. Instead, they completely overhauled the room.

Not only did the Vikings bring in four edge rushers, but their average annual values are less than what Crosby's is at $34.73 million.

• Jonathan Greenard: $19 million
• Andrew Van Ginkel: $10 million
• Dallas Turner: $3.94 million
• Jihad Ward: $1.79 million

It's more than fair to say that Crosby is the best of all those players. He's a top-three edge rusher in the NFL. However, when you don't have that kind of player, you need to find a way to have a strong position group.

The Vikings had that in 2024 led by Greenard, who they signed to a four-year, $76 million contract. He was statistically better than Crosby in pressures (84 vs 54) and win percentage (15.2% vs 12.7%). This isn't to say that Greenard is better, but his production on a per game basis was better this past year and, when you look at the production by dollar,  Greenard feels like a steal.

In fact, he is a steal. $19 million for Greenard feels incredibly cheap for what he brought to the Vikings this year. After the 2025 season, the Vikings might have to rework his deal in a similar way due to his performance.

Finding value in the market is what Adofo-Mensah has done very well, including finding second-team All-Pro Van Ginkel for just $10 million. Continuing to find a way to maximize the dollars at his disposal is going to be his legacy. His draft classes still need to improve, but it's why the Vikings have been 34-17 during his tenure.