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The Vikings took one other step of their seek for the subsequent common supervisor, requesting 5 candidates for in-person interviews. Chopping their record in half, the finalists for the job are interim GM Rob Brzezinski, Broncos’ Reed Burckhardt, Payments’ Terrance Grey, Rams’ John McKay, and Seahawks’ Nolan Teasley.
In addition to Brzezinski, the entire different candidates at the moment function assistant common managers. Aside from Teasley, the entire candidates have deep connections with the crew.
A number of Candidates Match Minnesota’s Entrance Workplace Blueprint
One factor that I actually like about this group is that the 4 exterior candidates are from profitable groups. I’m not saying there aren’t good candidates in underperforming groups, however coming from groups that constantly make playoff runs, they’re candidates who see each day how you can construct a aggressive franchise.
The Candidates
To be trustworthy, the candidate I need the least is Rob Brzezinski. It’s not that I believe he can’t or received’t do a superb job, however as a result of I believe the Vikings want to alter some personnel within the entrance workplace, and I don’t assume he’ll try this. I’m additionally afraid he can be extra sentimental than he ought to be when making some selections, just like the overpay for Adam Thielen final 12 months.
The management facet is essential, and each the Wilfs and Kevin O’Connell praised Brzezinski’s capability to gel the entrance workplace and training workers. The homeowners have gone on document saying that management might be extra necessary than how nicely the candidate scouts or performs in every other a part of the job.
Reed Burckhardt, Paton’s right-hand man in Denver, is aware of the Vikings very nicely, having spent 13 years in Minnesota earlier than transferring to Colorado with Paton. The director of participant personnel for 3 years earlier than being promoted to assistant GM, Burckhardt would probably carry again among the issues we have been used to when Rick Spielman ran issues in Minnesota, as each Paton and Burckhardt labored for him for a very long time, and Paton was Spielman’s protegé.
Burckhardt has performed a key function within the Broncos’ roster-building operation since 2022, and given how gifted they’re, particularly on protection, it’s secure to say he did a superb job.
Terrence Grey is the third candidate who spent a while in Minnesota, working as a school scout for 10 years. When Brendon Beane obtained the GM job in Buffalo (2017), he satisfied Grey to go away the Vikings and be a part of him with the Payments as a school scouting director.
Within the 9 seasons he spent in Buffalo, Grey climbed by way of the ranks and is now one in every of Beane’s most trusted advisors. Like different candidates, Grey was a first-rate GM candidate in January, interviewing with a number of groups and changing into a finalist for a number of.
Nov 30, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Buffalo Payments assistant common supervisor Terrance Grey in attendance because the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Payments at Acrisure Stadium. Necessary Credit score: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Photographs
The final candidate with some familiarity is John McKay, the Rams assistant common supervisor. He by no means labored for the Vikings, however McKay and O’Connell have been with the Rams in 2020 and 2021. McKay went by way of the “usual” route, however with a really quick climb, beginning as a scouting assistant in 2016. He was then promoted to director of professional personnel in 2021 and assistant common supervisor in 2025.
Based on the Rams’ web site, McKay helps with all arrivals and departures, and in addition evaluates each roster (together with their very own) earlier than free company.
I don’t assume anybody on the Vikings has a previous relationship with Nolan Teasley. And in a world the place present relationships are all the pieces, this speaks volumes about Teasley’s ascent with the Seahawks. Like McKay, Teasley rose by way of professional personnel scouting somewhat than faculty scouting. Teasley additionally had a fast climb, beginning as an intern in 2013, then spending three seasons as a scout, one as assistant director of professional personnel, 5 as director, and three as assistant common supervisor.
Based on the crew’s web site, Teasley does quite a bit throughout the group, serving to oversee all points of participant acquisition, roster growth, using knowledge within the scouting course of, and, very importantly, given what the Wilf brothers have mentioned, ongoing communication among the many scouting, analysis, and analytics departments.
So, Who Will Be The Subsequent Vikings’ GM?
The GM course of is tougher for us on the surface than the HC. Though it isn’t the one a part of the job, and there are extra necessary points, we are able to at all times take a look at his job as a playcaller. We are able to’t at all times do the identical when evaluating GM prospects, although, as all the pieces occurs behind closed doorways. We don’t know the way influential that particular person was within the roster constructing.
Aside from Brzezinski, who the crew is aware of extraordinarily nicely (and us in some unspecified time in the future, too), we are able to’t pinpoint what the opposite 4 candidates have been doing. All of them come from profitable groups in the previous few seasons, however how influential they have been in that success is what the Wilfs should determine.
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Though Burckhardt and Grey actually discovered new issues of their time away from Minnesota, I truthfully assume the Vikings want somebody with a brand new philosophy because the GM. The possession pushed numerous chips after they signed Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, considering they’d be forward of the curve. I don’t assume this was a nasty wager, only one that didn’t pan out.
The answer, to me, is to carry somebody in for a recent begin, somewhat than making an attempt to copy Rick Spielman or one thing comparable.
Once more, I’m not saying that any of them aren’t certified for the Vikings’ GM job, or that Spielman was a nasty GM. However somewhat, this crew has been caught on the identical concepts for a very long time, has tried one thing completely different for a bit, and shouldn’t default to what they know. After we take a look at the curriculum of the 5 candidates, 4 have a scouting background, with the exception being Rob Brzezinski.
The Wilfs have repeatedly mentioned they are going to worth management and communication extremely on this course of, however the truth that the candidates come from this pipeline is attention-grabbing (and considerably telling).
With all that being mentioned, my two favourite candidates are McKay and Teasley. McKay has a relationship with Kevin O’Connell, working for him, and we all know that KOC has numerous say within the franchise. Each time somebody climbs the ranks so rapidly, and at a really profitable crew, just like the current Los Angeles Rams, it’s often a superb signal. However possibly 2026 is a bit too early for John McKay.
Teasley additionally had a really quick climb within the Seahawks’ entrance workplace, going from an intern to director of professional personnel in simply 5 years. He additionally has extra expertise in higher-level positions, has helped John Schneider rebuild the roster post-Russell Wilson, and has an outlined function in Seattle, guaranteeing each a part of the entrance workplace is linked, which aligns straight with what the Vikings’ possession mentioned they need.
I believe Teasley embodies the combo of scouting, analytics, and the power to speak his concepts to a number of departments that the Vikings really want proper now.
