Now that the NFL draft is in the books, expect the Vikings to turn their focus back towards — among other things — getting a record-breaking contract extension done with superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson.
"We continue to have great dialogue with their representatives, and you know, the process is ongoing," GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said in his post-draft press conference. "We did say, ‘Hey, this couple of days, the draft’s coming.' Obviously they have players that they represent. We have our process, and either way, whenever we sign him, we want Justin to have his whole week. 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. So you know, we're excited to work toward it. We're gonna keep going. You can't have all these plans where you talk about all these visions and not talk about
the king linchpin, so we're going to keep working toward that end goal."
Recently, the Lions signed Amon-Ra St. Brown to a four-year, $120 million extension (with $77M guaranteed) and the Eagles signed A.J. Brown to a three-year, $96 million extension (with $84 million guaranteed). The latter's $32 million AAV makes him the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history — a title that will undoubtedly belong to Jefferson whenever he ends up signing his next contract.
The bar for the Vikings to clear probably isn't just Brown's $32 million per year, but Nick Bosa's $34 million per year, with Jefferson looking to become the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history. He's earned that much through his unparalelled performance on the field through the first four seasons of his career. Even though he only played eight full games last season, Jefferson is still nearly 400 yards ahead of Michael Thomas for the most receiving yards ever in a player's first four years (5,899).
Negotiations between the Vikings and Jefferson's camp should pick back up soon. Contract AAV, term, and structure will all be important factors, particularly the amount of guaranteed money.
There's been no indication that the Vikings have ever considered the possibility of trading Jefferson. There's also been no indication that Jefferson doesn't want to be in Minnesota long-term. He texted with new quarterback J.J. McCarthy after the Vikings drafted him tenth overall on Thursday night, and he's also been in consistent contact with head coach Kevin O'Connell. Now it's just a matter of finding an agreement at some point before the start of the regular season in September.
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