O'Connell says he's had 'great dialogue' with Vikings as contract extension talks enter picture

Updated Jan. 16, 2025 6:31 p.m. ET

Associated Press

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings have plenty of roster issues to sort out with a host of impending free agents.

The offseason also centers around the futures of their two most important leaders: general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and coach Kevin O'Connell.

Adofo-Mensah and O'Connell have a 34-17 record over three years together — plus 0-2 in the playoffs — after they were hired a couple of weeks apart in 2022. With one year remaining on both of their contracts, extensions are on the offseason to-do list in Minnesota.

O'Connell said Thursday he's had “great dialogue” with team ownership in reflection on the season and his future and would like to sign a new deal this year.

“Anything beyond that, I would prefer to kind of keep those discussions internal,” O'Connell said, three days after Minnesota's season ended with a wild-card round loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

Vikings owner and president Mark Wilf said in an interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune last month that ownership was “looking forward to a great future” with both Adofo-Mensah and O'Connell.

During training camp, Wilf told reporters the Vikings preferred to wait until the conclusion of the 2024 season to talk contracts.

“We’ll judge it like we’ve always done. We’ll evaluate the full body of work for everybody, and we’re going to evaluate all the factors that go into how we did, how we’re doing,” Wilf said then. “We have big expectations for our squad, and we feel very good about the direction of the team under Kevin and Kwesi.”

Asked Thursday about any tension that might exist around the absence of a deal so far, O'Connell declined to directly answer the question.

“What I would say is I love being the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, and with that comes the fact that I love our ownership. I have a great relationship with our ownership and feel so fortunate,” O'Connell said. “Not only just the way they support us and believe in us, but also the impact they have on our players, on our locker room, and ultimately where we all want to go together."

Adofo-Mensah also declined in his season-ending news conference Thursday to discuss any specifics around his contract talks with the club, but he praised the Wilf family for the appreciation and support he has felt and received along with O'Connell.

“I always think back to the unbelievable opportunity that they gave me. I’ve always dreamt of being a general manager in an organization that’s trying to do the thing they haven’t done before, and I still have visions. I wake up in the morning and think of what that could be like. I’m always going to go back to that, the gratitude that I have for them and that I want to be the general manager going forward,” Adofo-Mensah said, adding: “I don’t think I’m entitled to anything. If I sign that contract tomorrow I’d be running like I was scared just trying to always earn it, because somebody’s chasing you and somebody’s trying to be better than you.”

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