Contract Talks Between Vikings and Jefferson Getting More Difficult, an Insider Says
Although the Minnesota Vikings and Justin Jefferson are still in the process of negotiating a contract, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported that the process of reaching an agreement became more challenging this offseason.
Breer dispelled the frenzy that surrounded a Pioneer Press story claiming the Vikings were thinking of trading Jefferson and acquiring Malik Nabers to take his place in his weekly column. He claimed that if the notion had ever come up in Minnesota, “it never got very far.”
But it has created a delicate moment in the contract negotiations because the Vikings’ otherwise positive atmosphere has been tainted by the notion that Jefferson is expendable.
The wide receiver market is growing, and Breer noted that with the signing of extensions by A.J. Brown and Amon-Ra St. Brown, who now earn over $30 million a season, the floor of a possible deal is even higher.
“With the signing extensions of A.J. Brown of the Philadelphia Eagles and Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Detroit Lions, that negotiation got more, not less, complicated, and it should not be ignored that Jefferson took on an extra year of injury risk after becoming eligible for a new deal and got hurt during that year,” Breer wrote.
The Vikings are experiencing the consequences of leaving the door open after coming “unbelievably close” to a deal before the start of the 2023 season, but the timeline to re-sign Jefferson remains intact as the team typically completes megadeals in the summer.
Breer continued, “But as of right now, and really all along, I get the impression that the Vikings’ strategy has been to take whatever necessary steps to keep Jefferson around for the long run.
WR Justin Jefferson of the Vikings isn’t just interested in a top WR deal.
Brown’s $32 million season cap raised the floor for Jefferson’s contract, but the wide receiver market has never been the focus of Jefferson’s extension.
Jefferson is the best wide receiver in the league, and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah expressed as much during his NFL Scouting Combine press conference.
But the real bargaining starts when it comes to Jefferson being the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league.
Nick Bosa received a five-year, $170 million contract extension last season, with an average annual salary of $34 million. While there have been rumors that Jefferson’s camp might sign a shorter-term contract, they are probably hoping to surpass that annual threshold.
Additionally, there is talk that Jefferson wants a contract comparable to that of certain starting quarterbacks.
On May 21, Outkick’s Armando Salguero—who currently works as Fox Sports’ senior NFL writer and spent three decades covering the Miami Dolphins for the Miami Herald—reported that Jefferson aspires to become a quarterback superstar in his next contract.
Even among the greatest wide receivers in history, Jefferson is an anomaly, despite the fact that receiver talent coming out of college is proving to be more prepared to excel every year.
Throughout the 2022 season, Jefferson ranked among the top receivers against cover-1, cover-2, and cover-3, demonstrating his ability to cheat against any coverage.
Since PFF began tracking in 2006, he has had four consecutive seasons with offensive grades of 90 or higher, which is exceptional. That is a consistent streak only surpassed by Julio Jones.
Although a few receivers have been able to dominate every year once opposing defenses sell out to stop them, receivers do have breakout seasons.
That is why Jefferson is exceptional. The Vikings should spend big on him so that his contract can last as long as J.J. McCarthy’s cheap rookie contract does.
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