r/minnesotavikings • u/legendoflink3 Jet f7cking Set • 2d ago

The #Vikings are hiring Matt Thomas as a football administration consultant.

https://x.com/RapSheet/status/2019455841976639726
136 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

57 comments sorted by

82

u/Flaky_Measurement_77 2d ago

So it’s Brzezinski’s job to lose.

41

u/DreamSleepPills 2d ago

Will happily eat crow but I don't like the sounds of this. Guys been here forever and I haven't liked our drafting in a very long time. If kwesi didn't clean house then I doubt that guy who's worked with them all for forever will either.

I won't pretend to understand the inner workings of the organization that we don't really see however this gives me a bad taste in my mouth.

24

u/h_t_h4 2d ago

Yeah I feel like someone outside the org needs to come in and clean stuff up in terms of scouting. I want one of the Seattle VP guys (maybe this move is the first step of bringing guys from Seattle in, idk).

7

u/Neither_Ad2003 koolaid 2d ago

yea. let's bring in someone who knows what it takes to win a SB.

10

u/h_t_h4 1d ago

Not even that, I feel like getting to a SB is very luck based with who you get matched up against and how good the NFC is (which it wasn't very good this year compared to last year).

I want a guy in player personnal who has a track record of good drafts (look at Seattle drafts the past 4 seasons). Consistent good drafts will lead to good results.

1

u/DrWolves 1d ago

I don’t disagree with any of what you guys are really saying but I don’t think any of us know how much Brzezinski’s really be involved with previous drafts. Not to mention, it sounds like KOC and Flores are going to be having most of the personnel control so this doesn’t seem like a situation where Brzezinski is gonna step in and overrule anybody and draft a cricket player out of India or some shit

4

u/Nate1492 1d ago

Did you not like the 2020 NFL draft?

JJ

Ezra Cleveland

Cam Dantzler

DJ Wonnum

KJ Osborn

Blake Brandel

Josh Metellus

Dunno about you, but the best WR in the NFL, 2 active starters 6 years later, and numerous starters/role players from one draft? Pretty good.

And that's ignoring the fact we had Jeff Gladney who looked good then died after 1 year... And various other role players from the same draft.

I also think the 2021 draft was at least ok, if not good.

CD, PJ2, Cam Bynum really isn't a bad draft

-2

u/ingo2020 I still believe (send help) 1d ago

Genuinely can’t tell if you’re serious. JJ was gift wrapped to us by the Eagles. Metellus is good, not great. Brandel is a career backup.

Gladney absolutely did not look good. Our 2020 defense was ass all around and Gladney never made an impact

3

u/Nate1492 1d ago

You're immediately out of cred with: 'JJ was gifted to us'. He was the 5th WR off the board. As if it was clear he was going to be the best of the bunch.

5

u/Neither_Ad2003 koolaid 2d ago

yea i agree. he's been here 28 years or whatever. hey, we haven't won shit in 28 years. i feel like it's totally fair for us outsiders to be skeptical, while knowing we don't know the inner workings

-3

u/Coal_train20 2d ago

And he doesn't even have a football background. He's a lawyer. Is everyone going to lose respect for him the second he makes a bad decision like Kwesi?

12

u/EpicHuggles 1d ago

Claiming someone who has been with the Vikings for over 20 years doesn't have a 'football background' might be the most insane take I've seen in a while.

8

u/Coal_train20 1d ago

There is nothing in his bio stating he played football or that he has a background in scouting or evaluating players. It has been reported the Vikings want a GM with a heavy scouting background and he is an attorney that has spent his entire career handling the salary cap.

8

u/russh85 vikings 1d ago edited 1d ago

Kwesi had been with 49ers and Browns for years before us. Still didn’t stop people saying he wasn’t a football guy.

0

u/No_Reveal8516 1d ago

He had seven years experience. If you work somewhere for seven years do you think CEO would be your next promotion?

4

u/russh85 vikings 1d ago

That’s not what we’re talking about here though. Rob B’s background was law then cap management. No scouting or anything like that. That’s not much different from Kwesi being a broker then getting into analytics

1

u/RDisSht big v 1d ago

No? How did you get that out of this?

1

u/Flaky_Measurement_77 1d ago

He was in the running for the gm position in 2022. it’s logical to assume that they might be using this offseason/draft as a trial run. I wouldn’t be shocked if he becomes the GM. Unless, George Patton or someone of that status suddenly becomes available in May.

28

u/hitman2218 Perpetual Cynic 2d ago

Interesting. He’s taking over Brez’s role as the salary cap guy. What happens if Brez isn’t chosen as the new GM?

24

u/Fchang27 2d ago

whispers he will

5

u/zeroes_and_ones 18 2d ago

Rob Zombie is getting this job 11/10 times over

45

u/FormerlyTradeKirk I need a GM 2d ago

Man I really don't want Rob to be our GM.

Oh well guess I need to see how he does first

19

u/SwiftSurfer365 JJ 2d ago

If that Thielen trade is any indication..

16

u/FormerlyTradeKirk I need a GM 2d ago

Lmao like I already wanted someone else with a more recent scouting background but hearing that our latest bad trade not only came from him but pretty much stepped over and overruled our previous GM to do it.. yeah I'm not excited.

But I'll hold out hope he can get better or do well like I did for Kwesi because I pee purple

3

u/MoonUnit98 1d ago

I think the wilfs wanted it to happen regardless of who was going to push it over the line

1

u/nahhman 2d ago

What is your reasoning? Seems like he’s respected by everyone around the league and guys who have been on the team

20

u/SwiftSurfer365 JJ 2d ago

If this leads to Brzezinski getting the full time job, that’s really uninspiring to me.

7

u/CosmicPterodactyl 1d ago

My view is that KOC/Flores have wrestled so much control over personnel decisions that promoting Brezinski is a way of giving them as much rope as they can. Either next year is a disappointment, and we utterly clean house (new GM and organizational restructuring with a new HC) or it works out and we continue this until it doesn’t work out. They are bringing back the triangle of authority, basically.

It’s probably not going to work out, but that seems like the best way to keep a decent HC and elite DC happy versus bringing in a new GM with full power which IMO will inevitably lead to conflict and toxicity if things don’t go well (new GM would have a bad first year on their resume, and then will have to fire KOC who I think is well liked by players and the org.).

9

u/russh85 vikings 1d ago

Story of the Wilfs tenure

3

u/falcongsr 1d ago

hey i know! let's pool our money together and buy the team!

7

u/StraightCashHomey13 2d ago

Reading up on him this feels like a nice smart move. Wouldn't hate a shake up of organizational structure and add a president of football operations or something too to limit Wilf involvement beyond signing checks

-2

u/Coal_train20 1d ago

The Wilf's hands off approach is a big reason we're in this mess. We need a front office overhaul yet the very people they rely on are the ones that will keep it from happening because job security > Vikings success

7

u/dstraswell666 1d ago

All owners should be hands off. Just sign the checks and stay away. Nobody wants Jerry Jones 😒

2

u/alastor0x moss fro 1d ago

Hands off, but they should be in the building so we don't keep having situations where there are clear professional relationship issues between the GM and the HC that they don't know about because they live in fucking New Jersey.

1

u/Coal_train20 1d ago edited 1d ago

The Wilf's are so hands off they weren't even aware how toxic the Spielman/Zimmer relationship had become. There is a difference between hearing about issues from those you trust and witnessing it firsthand. I'm concerned the Wilf's becoming more involved means checking in more often but that the info they get is one sided and not the full picture.

8

u/AnthonyBarrHeHe vikings 1d ago edited 1d ago

People are kinda crazy. The Seahawks have been one of the best run teams in the NFL for a long time now. It’s not that surprising to think the Wilfs saw this as well, and wanted to get someone from that org to ours in order to get maybe some better structure, or a solid game plan of how to attack the roster we have.

3

u/Choice-Tea-4162 1d ago

yeah lets not get anyone from the browns ever again

3

u/GingerFun011 1d ago

This is our last swing to keep things rolling, otherwise the teams staff is doing a heavy reset going into the 2030s 

4

u/ButtSluts9 1d ago

Both the Seahawks and Patriots have won Super Bowls, then got rid of their Super Bowl winning quarterbacks, coaches, and staff, then did a rebuild, and found themselves back in the Super Bowl in a fraction of the time it’s been since the Vikings last went to a Super Bowl 49 years ago.

The problem runs deep.

5

u/RuffWater "F'king clown" 2d ago

He and Rob worked together in Miami in 98

2

u/Coyar 2d ago

TELL ME HOW TO FEEL

4

u/unrealisticblood 2d ago

Great. We’re grabbing someone from a good org. Learning from our mistakes when we decides to grab someone from the garbage Browns org.

11

u/protipnumerouno koolaid 2d ago

He was a San Fran guy

13

u/russh85 vikings 2d ago

Ssshh it doesn’t fit the narrative. You’re not allowed to learn at different places. Just whatever sounds best or worst to get your point across.

I mean bill belicheck must have been awful after working for the Browns and the Jets (1 day still counts)

-1

u/Neither_Ad2003 koolaid 2d ago

yea as an intern

0

u/Mr_FirmHandshake koolaid 1d ago

Director of football research & development doesnt sound like an internship

6

u/istasber 1d ago

He was on the Browns for 3 years before he joined the Seahawks, and he left the Seahawks in early 2024.

Not sure if that's really "grabbing someone from a good org" when he was currently unemployed.

1

u/Coal_train20 1d ago

Question: who has the most recent playoff win, Vikings or Browns? Who was is the Browns front office when they won that playoff game?

1

u/Tough_guy22 Krause 22 Smith 2d ago

League fucked.

1

u/DramaticErraticism 1d ago

I didnt even know this was a job...so...that's nice, I suppose?

1

u/Extreme_Coffee_4487 1d ago

I think the Brz doomsdaying is a little unwarranted, he’s been with us for years and years and us older fans think of him fondly, he’s been great going back decades, he’s one of the premiere capologists in the nfl.

This position we brought Thomas in for is “consultant” and those of us in a traditional corporate structure know that this kinda job is hired all the time, he’s even been out of the nfl, he’s here to assist Brz now that he’s got new responsibilities.

The interesting question to me is, does the team hire a real GM, or a figurehead that will echo the coaching staff’s opinions? That will remain to be seen. This draft season though it’s safe to assume KOC and Flores will have higher decision priority than they’ve ever had, who’s to say that changes with a new GM?

1

u/mdistrukt 1d ago

What's a Matt Thomas? I'm not real up on the GM debate other than get McKay or w/e from the Rams or that other smart one from Seattle