Is it Justin Jefferson who’s impeding the Vikings’ contract negotiations?
The drama between Justin Jefferson, an all-pro wide receiver, and the Minnesota Vikings fans gets more intense by the day. The best wide receiver in the league, Jefferson, is entering his final season under contract in Minnesota without a contract extension.
Considering that a) these are optional and b) Jefferson missed the previous offseason’s events as well, it is not shocking that he has not attended the voluntary organized team activities. However, mandatory minicamp is approaching, and that’s when the story of “will JJ show up or not” could become intriguing.
The negotiations over Justin Jefferson’s contract are being held up by whom?
Even though there might not be a contract in place just yet, practically every NFL insider and reporter—both local and national—who follows these talks closely seems pretty confident that Jefferson and the Vikings will eventually reach an agreement. However, anything can happen until ink is on paper.
Now, the Vikings are automatically blamed whenever this subject is brought up. The same question is frequently posed by fans: “How can a deal not be done yet?” or “What are they waiting for? Just pay the man.”
However, the longer this goes on, the more it makes sense to find out who is actually delaying these contract negotiations. Remember, JJ’s price will probably increase the longer we wait. Alec Lewis, a beat writer for The Athletic about the Vikings, alluded to that as being as much of a problem as anything the team is hoping for.
Should the Vikings and Jefferson fail to reach an agreement, it could be because Jefferson’s team feels more at ease taking a risk for another year rather than agreeing to a deal it isn’t thrilled about. Jefferson’s value is likely to increase with the amount of time he delays signing. However, the longer he delays in signing, the greater the chance that he will sustain an injury that lowers his value.
Updates on Justin Jefferson’s contract negotiations are provided by Alec Lewis (The Athletic).
This could continue past this offseason if Jefferson’s camp feels more comfortable taking on another year of risk than agreeing to a deal it’s “not excited about.” That would be a nightmare situation for everyone involved because the franchise tag would then become involved and people would start to get upset.
Are we witnessing Jefferson and the Minnesota Vikings engage in a game of chicken?
Which group—the Vikings or Jefferson—will cave in first and come to an understanding? Both parties are motivated and have leverage. Recall that Jefferson recently had a season in which he was forced to miss seven games due to injury.
However, another injury could drastically alter the nature of these talks.If that doesn’t occur, JJ’s value will probably increase the longer he puts off signing.
Additionally, the Vikings may choose to use the franchise tag on Jefferson in the upcoming offseason as well as the one after that. However, it can be dangerous to play the franchise tag with a player of Jefferson’s caliber. It typically results in “ill-will” between the player and the group.
Related: The Vikings May Pay More for Justin Jefferson’s New Contract Addison Jordan
We Vikings supporters need to be patient and have faith that everything will work itself out in due time. But the drama gets louder the longer this goes on.
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