The Minnesota Vikings appear to have made an error in drawing out contract negotiations with wide receiver Justin Jefferson.
Minnesota could have offered Jefferson an extension one year ago, and the franchise could have put a deal together at any point since. The Vikings and their All-Pro wideout may still to come to a multiyear agreement, but a contract that already had the potential to be the largest at the position in NFL history will now be even more expensive after the league announced a $30 million bump to the salary cap in 2024.
“The one fundamental truth about giving one of your own great players the contract he deserves is that the price will always go up if you wait. Always,” Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote on Saturday, February 24. “As of Friday, with the salary cap shooting to $255.4 million per team, Jefferson’s price goes up even higher.”
Justin Jefferson Now Even More Likely to Sign Historic Deal
There is no guarantee that Jefferson is going to reset the receiver market whenever he does re-up, either with Minnesota or somewhere else down the line, but the chances have always been good.
The Miami Dolphins paid Tyreek Hill a salary totaling $30 million annually on a four-year extension two years ago. That figure remains the highest annual average salary any wideout has ever received from an NFL team.
Davante Adams signed a five-year contract worth $140 million total ($28 million annually) with the Las Vegas Raiders the same offseason Hill got his big deal. That remains the highest total figure attached to a contract for an NFL wide receiver, though the full amount is not guaranteed ($65.71 million).
Jefferson won’t get a fully-guaranteed contract either, be it from the Vikings or elsewhere. However, he is going to ask for more than $30 million annually and will probably push for five years to make himself the highest-paid receiver in league history by any metric. And frankly, he deserves it.
Jefferson is a three-time Pro Bowler and earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2022 when he led the NFL in receptions (128) and receiving yards (1,809). He has set record after record over his four-year career with the Vikings, amassing 392 catches for 5,899 yards and 30 TDs across 60 games played, per Pro Football Reference. Jefferson hauled in 68 catches for 1,074 yards and 5 scores last season, despite missing seven games with a hamstring strain.
Vikings Risk Alienating Justin Jefferson the Longer They Wait to Ink Contract Extension
Jefferson posted all of that production on a four-year rookie contract that paid him just $13.1 million total. His salary jumps to $19.7 million in 2024 after Minnesota exercised its fifth-year option on that deal ahead of the 2023 campaign.
The Vikings don’t have to extend Jefferson this offseason, or even the next. The team can use the franchise tag option to keep the wideout locked up through 2025, and could even do so again in 2026. However, Minnesota runs a serious risk of alienating Jefferson by proceeding in that manner and would risk losing the 24-year-old superstar in his mid/late 20s by doing so.
“Whatever he wanted before Friday, he surely wants more now,” Florio wrote Saturday. “As explained after Jefferson visited with “PFT Live” at the Super Bowl, Jefferson has been very patient. At some point, his patience will run out.”
Florio added that the issue holding up a deal between Jefferson and the Vikings is the structure of the contract, specifically with regards to guaranteed money.
The new regime in Minnesota, led by general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, has tried over the past two offseasons to avoid fully guaranteeing compensation beyond the first year of an agreement for any player aside from quarterback Kirk Cousins. The franchise broke that trend with the extension of tight end T.J. Hockenson and will certainly have to do so again if it wants Jefferson to remain in Minneapolis for the long-term.
“It’s still unclear what will happen with Jefferson,” Florio wrote. “Here’s what is clear. With each passing day, it’s going to get more and more and more expensive.”
