EAGAN, Minn. — We're one week away from the 2025 NFL Draft.

Which means, of course, Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and his staff continue to be hard at work finalizing draft boards, anticipating potential draft-weekend scenarios and planning how they will approach the three-day event.

This spring marks Adofo-Mensah's fourth time going through the pre-draft process since joining the Vikings in January 2022. Minnesota is currently slated to have the fewest draft selections (just four) in his tenure so far:

Round 1: 24^th overall

Round 3: 97^th overall (compensatory)

Round 5: 139^th overall (choice from Cleveland)

Round 6: 187^th overall (choice from San Francisco)

Adofo-Mensah noted the team has approached the offseason to this point with the above in mind.

"You know, we have a lot of levers we can pull in team-building and different things — draft, free agency, trades — and they're all connected," he told Twin Cities media members Thursday. "We started this offseason with a plan. [Head Coach] Kevin [O'Connell], myself, our staffs, came together and had a vision for what we want to be."

Adofo-Mensah noted specific additions that included Ryan Kelly at center and Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave across the line of scrimmage, as well as cornerbacks Isaiah Rodgers and Jeff Okudah.

"And you talk about being able to bring back Aaron Jones, [Sr.], and trading for Jordan Mason to provide a really complementary backfield, [plus] re-singing Murph' (Byron Murphy, Jr.) … we were just able to do a lot of different things that I think really sets us up for the draft," he added. "We want to be in a place where we're proactive, not reactive."

Below are four other takeaways from Adofo-Mensah's press conference:

1. Valuation charts

A background in economics and commodities trading is a spectacular knowledge base for someone in charge of maximizing quality, especially with a limited quantity of something.

If Minnesota winds up trading down or out of Round 1, in order to give its draft capital (the Vikings currently own four picks and none in the second round) a facelift, there won't be a stone left unturned.

Adofo-Mensah is well-versed in specific pick and trade valuation charts. He spoke Thursday about building his own, studying assumptions that other charts make, and his fascination with attempting to assign a number to a spot, and wondering whether it takes into account the scarcity of certain players.

For example, how does a chart weigh the opportunity to land an X-caliber player in the draft that can't be acquired in free agency? Ultimately, it's an imperfect science, much like the nature of the NFL Draft.

"I think the best thing you can do is understand why each chart is built the way it is and kind of maybe for each decision you make, understand, kind of, how you're using it for you," Adofo-Mensah remarked.

2. Cost control versus experience

One aspect of roster-building is finding the balance between utilizing the draft to find "cost-efficient" options who will be on rookie contracts and signing veteran players to higher contract deals through free agency, or acquiring through trades and so forth.

Adofo-Mensah likened it to "an insurance product."

"It's a unique thing where you're paying, but you're paying for known. Versus the unknown, you're paying less," he said. "But where that's hard is when … what is that unknown is the difference between you being the team you thought you could be versus not?

"It's a fascinating argument. When I'm not doing this one day and I'll go be an economics professor, maybe I'll work on some equations and we'll talk about it in that space," Adofo-Mensah added with a smile. "But that is the conversation that ultimately we have. You don't look at these moves in a vacuum. You look at your team in a holistic sense."

3. Impact and buy-in

Back-to-back hauls in free agency and three years of building a selfless culture, full of players that are completely bought into the process, has helped the Vikings steer clear of having to draft for necessity.

"You have to earn the right to be the type of team, the type of organization that drafts for impact and not need," Adofo-Mensah said, adding he thinks the Vikings can do that after another strong offseason.

Still, there's always some level of addressing and improving a roster that aligns with needs/wants.

Adofo-Mensah spotted the difference between negative verbiage, such as "need" compared to "want," and informed that the Vikings try to operate with the latter mindset. He also confirmed there's always a desire to acquire good players at every position, regardless of if it seems like it's a priority right now, because the league moves fast and it's important – er, necessary – to be proactive instead of reactive.

"It's always going to [happen] in a short-term horizon," he said of the demand for impactful new players.

When it comes to differentiating between prospects that are equal in most aspects, Adofo-Mensah said he trusts the overall buy-in: "Football is a sport with variance day-to-day, variance game-to-game, quarter-to-quarter, play-to-play, and so the thing that I think – and I don't know that there's a test for this – but I think the thing that will allow players to succeed is buy-in from myself, Kevin, his staff, my staff, so when he has that bad day – 'Hey guys!' – we all look each other in the eye and remember why we wanted this person to be here, and all those skill sets we thought they had in him. So we'll give him the time and patience to be able to achieve those things. So that'll be the thing that swings me."

4. Quarterback watch

Minnesota has two quarterbacks on its roster: J.J. McCarthy and Brett Rypien.

In other words, it's no secret it'll be adding to the room before summer gets underway. Adofo-Mensah addressed the position Thursday, clarifying that the Vikings patience to sign another arm isn't strictly related to waiting out the compensatory pick period, in which inking a free agent could be counted against them for extra selections awarded next year. There's no consideration for comp pick allotment starting on the Monday after the NFL Draft, so in this case, the Vikings would be in the clear April 28.

Adofo-Mensah, however, isn't scared off from bringing in a QB before that date. He described the decision as an opportunity-cost and reminded that Minnesota lost one by signing Jonathan Greenard.

"It's not the end-all be-all," he said about the comp pick formula. "When you find a 27-year-old pass rusher who fits your team and skill sets that you want, you go do it, because you ask yourself, 'What [would I] rather have?' and the answer sometimes is, 'I would rather have that really good player.'"

That same logic is being applied to Minnesota targeting another quarterback.

"We're not going to rush it either way," said Adofo-Mensah, "but we're always mindful of it."

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