Vikings hire Browns executive Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as general manager

After spending the past two seasons with the Browns, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is making a major career move.

The Minnesota Vikings hired Adofo-Mensah as their general manager Wednesday, a person with knowledge of the move told USA TODAY Sports' Mike Jones. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not yet announced the hire.

ESPN was the first to report the news.

Adofo-Mensah had a second interview with the Vikings on Tuesday.

Browns GM Andrew Berry hired Adofo-Mensah in May 2020 as vice president of football operations.

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Adofo-Mensah essentially served as Berry's assistant GM after previously working for the San Francisco 49ers as their director of football research and development.

Adofo-Mensah played basketball at Princeton University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics. He later earned a master’s degree in the same field from Stanford University.

After a career in finance, Adofo-Mensah took his expertise in analytics to the San Francisco 49ers, working as a manager of football research and development from 2013-18. He held a director title in the same department for two years before he joined the Browns.

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Browns will receive third-round draft picks as result of Vikings hiring Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as GM

The Browns will receive draft-pick compensation because the Vikings hired Adofo-Mensah.

In November 2020, NFL owners approved a resolution stipulating teams that lose a minority coach or executive to a head coach or general manager job with another club will receive a third-round compensatory pick for two consecutive years.

The official resolution states a team is eligible to receive draft-pick compensation if a successful head coach or GM minority candidate "has been employed by the employer-club for a minimum of two full seasons."

Although Adofo-Mensah's two-year work anniversary with the Browns would have been in May 2022, he spent two full seasons with the franchise.

That means the Vikings hiring Adofo-Mensah will result in the Browns receiving an extra third-round pick in this year's draft and next year's draft.

Adofo-Mensah and Browns vice president of player personnel Glenn Cook also recently interviewed for the GM job of the Chicago Bears.

However, the Bears hired Ryan Poles as their new GM on Tuesday, the team announced. Poles was the executive director of player personnel for the Kansas City Chiefs and another finalist for the GM job of the Vikings.