In the history of the Indianapolis Colts, there may be few people who are more universally vilified than Ryan Grigson. Known as the general manager who forced Andrew Luck into an early retirement, Grigson has been trying to continue his career since getting fired in 2017 and had most recently latched on as an assistant general manager with the Minnesota Vikings.
The Vikings front office had undergone major changes in recent months, with Kwesi Adofo-Mensah getting fired in January and replaced by Nolan Teasley.
While Grigson was going to be reassigned to a different role, it apparently didn’t last long, as ESPN’s Kevin Seifert reports that Grigson has turned down that offer and “has decided to depart and pursue a new job with another team.”
Ryan Grigson’s time with the Vikings was just as bad as it was with the Indianapolis Colts
No tears will be shed with Grigson’s latest setback in his career. But it’s the end of another disastrous stop that Colts fans could see coming.
Grigson joined the Vikings’ front office staff along with Adofo-Mensah in 2022 and quickly became his right-hand man for football decisions. Much like his time in Indianapolis, the Vikings won a lot of games while he was there, posting a 43-25 record and an NFC North title in 2022. But there were plenty of glaring mistakes that did him in.
The Vikings’ draft classes were terrible during Grigson’s four years in Minnesota, as there isn’t a member of the 2022 class currently on the roster. While the Vikings hit on other players, there were glaring holes across the roster that Minnesota attempted to patch up with a free agent spending spree.
While the Vikings had similar offensive line issues to the ones the Colts experienced under Grigson, the biggest whiff came at the quarterback position. Sam Darnold was allowed to leave for nothing after leading Minnesota to a 14-win season in 2024, and JJ McCarthy had a disastrous first season as a starter while Darnold went on to win the Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks.
In a way, that decision was what ended Grigson’s time in Minnesota. The Vikings hired Teasley, who was an assistant general manager under John Schneider in Seattle, and he offered to keep Grigson aboard in a different role while hiring Andrew Healy and Trent Kirchner as the new assistant GMs.
Although Grigson interviewed for the GM role during that process, things had clearly fallen apart, which led him to search for a new job.
Grigson will likely land somewhere else and bring his brand of destruction that he’s brought to the Vikings and Colts. While Grigson’s replacement, Chris Ballard, has his own problems to worry about, another failed stop should bring a smile to the face of Colts fans who may wonder who the next team will be to bring him aboard.
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