One Minnesota Player Just Got Paid. Is Justin Jefferson Next?
Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Anthony Edwards became an even richer man Monday.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted, “Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards has agreed on a five-year designated rookie maximum deal that could be worth $260 million, his agents Bill Duffy and Joe Branch of WME tell ESPN.”
One Minnesota Player Just Got Paid. Is Justin Jefferson Next?
The deal is for $206 million but can balloon to $260 million with incentives. The $206 million makes Edwards the 11th highest-paid player in the NBA per total contract value.
One mile away, Minnesota Vikings wideout Justin Jefferson plays a different sport, and like Edwards, his contract extension could hit at any minute. But will it happen anytime soon?
The short answer is yes, it probably will.
For nearly six months of the 2023 offseason, all parties involved — Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, head coach Kevin O’Connell, and Jefferson personally — have intimated an extension is afoot. There is no mystery about the eventuality. We just live in The Digital Age and want everything now.
On June 22nd, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio wrote about Jefferson’s contract situation, “There’s the possibility that the foot-dragging will upset the good-natured Jefferson, making him decide that he wants out. That he wants to play elsewhere — like Davante Adams, Tyreek Hill, and A.J. Brown in 2022. Once that bridge is crossed, it’s hard to go back.”
The PFT article was even titled, “If Vikings wait to extend Justin Jefferson, they could regret it.”
In reality, though, nearing the Fourth of July with a superstar player sans an extension isn’t uncommon. Jefferson arrived in Minnesota from the same draft that netted Joe Burrow to Cincinnati and Justin Herbert to Los Angeles. Neither man has received an extension as of July 2nd. Their money is coming — and so is Jefferson’s.
When Patrick Mahomes’ fourth NFL season was afoot, his mammoth extension was announced on July 6th, 2020. Josh Allen, a product of the 2018 NFL Draft, received his deal on August 6th, 2021. Myles Garrett, from the ‘Mahomes draft,’ got paid on July 15th, 2020
T.J. Watt of the 2017 NFL Draft was September 9th, 2021. Kyler Murray? July 21st, 2022. So the takeaway here is that if Jefferson’s deal had been wrapped before now, it would’ve been a little weird or at least outside the norm of typical NFL extension dealings.
In January, Adofo-Mensah was asked if retaining the Offensive Player of the Year, Jefferson, would be a challenge. The young executive smiled and said, “I wouldn’t use the word challenge. You got a special player, a special person. Those aren’t problems. Or at least those are champagne problems.”
Jefferson told reporters that week, “I will be wherever I’m wanted. If they want me here, I’m here.”
At Vikings minicamp in June, Jefferson mentioned his contract, “I don’t really see it as a cloud hanging over my head. At the end of the day, I’m just going to be myself, still going to be playing the same way. The contract comes with the game.”
It’s coming. Maybe the Vikings will even pull it off during the same week as Jefferson’s cross-neighborhood pal, Edwards.
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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