Vikings Latest Contract Extension Epitomizes New Regime
Dustin Baker
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While the Minnesota Vikings fanbase awaits the announcement of a Justin Jefferson extension — a deal that will be gargantuan — the team’s front office tidied some other contractual housekeeping Thursday morning, the start date of the 2023 regular season.
Vikings Latest Contract Extension Epitomizes New Regime
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah extended safety Josh Metellus for an extra two years, tying him to the organization through 2025.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted Thursday, “The Vikings and safety Josh Metellus reached agreement on a two-year extension worth up to $13 million, including $6 million guaranteed, per source. The deal was confirmed by agents Drew Rosenhaus and Ryan Matha.”
Metellus was about to enter the final year of his rookie deal, but now he’ll remain in purple for two additional seasons.
Metellus played all 17 games in 2022, his third season as a pro, and was featured on 258 defensive snaps. He performed wonderfully last year, fetching an 85.1 grade from Pro Football Focus and holding down Minnesota’s special teams operations. And if all goes according to plan for the 25-year-old, Metellus could surpass his 258 defensive snaps played in 2022.
Throughout the last several months, Metellus has embodied the Vikings new culture orchestrated by Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell by being a gritty, effective, and lead-by-example team captain. When right tackle Brian O’Neill was injured late last season, the club nominated Metellus for captaincy in O’Neill’s stead.
In June, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was asked on The Season with Peter Schrager podcast by NFL Network’s Peter Schrager about the Vikings “unsung hero,” and he immediately dropped Metellus’ name, “He’s a safety, and he’ll play some more this year, so I think you’ll see the stuff that we’ve seen. He was a special teams stalwart last year, team-captain type. I was in the team meeting room later in the season after [Brian O’Neill] got hurt, [Metellus] was given team captain.”
Too, ESPN identified a ‘standout’ player from each team this offseason, and — you guessed it — that guy was Metellus for Minnesota.
“You can feel when somebody’s teammates really love them, really appreciate them, and really want to follow them into battle, and he’s one of those guys. He’s everything that the Minnesota Vikings are about, and I think people are really going to appreciate that more this season,” Adofo-Mensah said about Metellus a couple of months ago.
So, when the franchise’s boss said, “everything that the Minnesota Vikings are about,” he wasn’t kidding. A player most of the NFL isn’t too familiar with just locked up a noteworthy extension.
Metellus will turn 26 in four months.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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