Questions Answered: Justin Jefferson Impatience, Brian Asamoah, Easiest Game of the Season
Dustin Baker
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The following questions are about current Minnesota Vikings topics, answered by VikingsTerritory. Today is the May 10th edition, addressed in a from-the-hip fashion. If you have questions, please email them to [email protected].
Questions Answered: Justin Jefferson Impatience, Brian Asamoah, Easiest Game of the Season
Also, please note: These are opinion-based responses. Some answers will be incorrect from time to time. But we’ll try to keep that to a minimum.
Q: What the hell is taking so long with Justin Jefferson’s extension? I can’t be the only one who’s impatient.
Answer: Mammoth extensions take time, and while we agree the wait has been too long, there’s no cause for concern.
The Dallas Cowboys haven’t extended CeeDee Lamb and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers haven’t put pen to paper with Tristan Wirfs. Both men are from Jefferson’s 2020 draft class.
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said after the draft about Jefferson’s upcoming extension: “You know that friend that has a birthday that takes the month? I think Justin would deserve his whole month if we signed a contract to celebrate it. We’re excited to work towards it. We’re going to keep going. You can’t have all these plans when you talk about all these visions and not talk about the king linchpin, so we’re going to keep working toward that end goal.”
We’ll continue to say it: Jefferson will be a Viking for the long haul, and there’s no reason to be anxietal about it.
Q: One of the other Vikings websites said Brian Asamoah could be a surprise summer roster cut. Do you agree?
Answer: We do not.
The Vikings don’t have oodles of off-ball linebacking depth, and the only reason that Asamoah didn’t experience substantial playing time last year was because of Ivan Pace Jr.’s hostile takeover as an undrafted free agent.
This is only Year No. 3 for Asamoah, and Minnesota would gain nothing by cutting ties with the young defender. Perhaps if the purple team was loaded with linebacker depth, this would make sense, but it is not.
Asamoah will make the 53-man roster later this summer.
Q: What’s the easiest game on the Vikings’ 2024 schedule?
A: Because we never perceive any road games as easy, let’s go with the Arizona Cardinals or Indianapolis Colts at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Per a handful of advanced-metric websites, the Vikings have one of the toughest schedules in the NFL this season despite a third-place NFC North finish in 2023. When glancing at the slate of opponents, no games appear “easy.” There are no Patriots, Panthers, or Broncos on the docket.
So, we’ll stick with home games, and Arizona and Indianapolis seem to be the least challenging ones at the moment.
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 MIN 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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