An Update on Justin Jefferson’s Contract Situation
A storyline somewhat flying under the radar this summer, reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year Justin Jefferson has not yet locked in a contract extension with the Minnesota Vikings.
Minnesota opted into Jefferson’s fifth-year option about four months ago, meaning he’s attached to the Vikings books for the next two years, no matter what.
An Update on Justin Jefferson’s Contract Situation
Yet, thereafter, his extension talks have mainly consisted of both parties, the Vikings front office and Jefferson personally, insisting a deal will eventually unfold, with no one knowing a precise timetable.
This week, SI.com’s Albert Breer provided clarity, noting Monday that the Vikings hope to have a deal ironed out in the next two weeks. Breer wrote, “No one’s talking much about it, but the Vikings are making an effort to get wide receiver Justin Jefferson signed before the season starts. Jefferson’s kept a pretty low profile about this one, and talks, as far as I can tell, have gone fine.”
Jefferson has banked more receiving yards since 2020 than any player in NFL history through the first three seasons of a career.
“When I visited with him a few weeks back, he told me his absence from parts of the offseason were about endorsement opportunities, not the contract. He did call getting a life-altering second contract ‘a dream of mine. It’s been a dream since I was 7 years old,'” Breer added.
Jefferson is expected to reset the NFL’s WR market and become the highest-paid non-quarterback ever with a deal somewhere in the neighborhood of $30-$35 million per season.
Jefferson also told Breer, “I’m definitely not letting that contract stuff get in the way of my team. We have to be focused on getting to the Super Bowl.”
In May, Jefferson skipped OTAs and claimed the team wasn’t insistent about his attendance. He mentioned in June, “I had a lot of stuff going on. They didn’t really force me to come back too, too much. It didn’t seem like I was missing too, too much. They definitely wanted me back here, and I wanted to be back here but had a lot going on.”
Jefferson also told reporters, “It’s not something that’s new towards the game. Eventually, we knew we were going to have to talk contract. The contract is going to come with the game.”
Three weeks ago, Vikings owner Mark Wilf reduced any mystery about Jefferson’s long-term fate in Minnesota, “Everyone is working together on this contract.”
“We are certainly aware of the magnitude of this one. We are certainly aware. Certainly involved. Justin Jefferson, we want him to stay as a Minnesota Viking,” Wilf affirmed.
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said in January, just two days after his club was prematurely bounced from the playoffs, that anything contract-related to Jefferson was champagne problems.
“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,” Adofo-Mensah replied when asked about the feasibility of a long-term deal.
And if Breer is correct, all these assurances from Jefferson, Wilf, and Adofo-Mensah could materialize in the next 13 days.
Jefferson turned 24 in June.
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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