The Minnesota Vikings, in the enviable position of having a quarterback on a rookie contract, spent more than all but one team in 2025 free agency. So moving forward, and it’s always the case, savvy drafting will be critical to sustaining success.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah replaced Rick Spielman as Vikings’ general manager in 2022. Just three players from that year’s draft class are still on the roster now, and the majority of those 10 players did not or have not made any real impact. Some might say the people left behind in the front office and scouting department who worked under Spielman willingly sabotaged Adofo-Mensah’s first draft class.
When roster cuts are done in late August, there may only be one player from that 2022 draft class left on the Vikings’ roster. Obviously not ideal, when said draft class is only entering what would typically be the final year of their rookie contracts.
The Minnesota Vikings can finally dump Brian Asamoah if rookie LB Kobe King asserts himself during training camp
The Vikings have a strong, if underappreciated, linebacking corps led by Blake Cashman and Ivan Pace. Eric Wilson was brought back from the Mike Zimmer era this offseason to provide capable, experienced depth, but with Brian Asamoah and rookie Kobe King lined up to battle it out for the LB4 role during training camp and preseason games.
Asamoah is one of the last men standing from that aforementioned 2022 draft class (No. 66 overall; third round). He played 119 defensive snaps and 285 special teams snaps over 16 games as a rookie, which was less than ideal in terms of his defensive role.
Over the last two seasons, Asamoah has played a total of 69 defensive snaps as defensive coordinator Brian Flores clearly has little use for him for whatever reasons. Last year in particular, Asamoah’s role as a core special teamer became full-fledged (321 snaps). Any natural expectations that come with being picked in the top-70 overall have not been met.
While Asamoah theoretically still has potential, the ship has sailed on him coming anywhere close to realizing it in a Vikings’ uniform. He’s firmly on the wrong side of the roster bubble heading toward training camp.
The Vikings, of course, didn’t have a lot of picks in this year’s draft, so they had to be fairly targeted with the players they took. With the first of their two sixth-round picks, No. 201 overall, they took Penn State linebacker Kobe King.
King nearly had 100 total tackles for the Nittany Lions last season (97), with a top-notch PFF grade as a run defender (89.2) and some production as a pass rusher (three sacks, with 16 pressures according to PFF). Matt Fries of Zone Coverage put together a nice compilation of plays from King, showing a lot of good but some bad. The potential is clearly there though.
Any idea Asamoah has any real trade value is probably gone. But as much as preseason games will be his opportunity to win a roster spot, they could also be a showcase for a trade.
Ultimately, if King asserts himself at all as hoped in camp and preseason games, the way Asamoah ends up no longer being on the Vikings’ roster will be a moot procedural point.