The longer Justin Jefferson remains without an extension, the more likely it is that the Minnesota Vikings end up backed into a corner on the All-Pro wide receiver’s future.
It is nearly unthinkable that any franchise would trade a generational playmaker on a Hall of Fame track before his 25th birthday. However, that is an outcome that is gaining “steam” in Minnesota, per Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press.
“Meanwhile, steam continues that the Vikings could make Justin Jefferson available for trade,” Walters wrote on Saturday, February 24.
NFL Salary Cap Leap Likely to Strain Contract Negotiations Between Justin Jefferson, Vikings
The catalyst of the momentum behind the Jefferson trade rumors is no mystery. Walters wrote his story one day after the NFL’s salary cap leapt $30.6 million, which Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk contended will drive the receiver’s asking price up significantly on a new deal.
“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,” Florio wrote Saturday. “As of Friday, with the salary cap shooting to $255.4 million per team, Jefferson’s price goes up even higher.”
Florio added that the holdup between Minnesota and Jefferson is the contract structure, specifically the amount of guaranteed money he will receive. Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has made it a point not to fully-guarantee any salary beyond the first year of a contract, though he hasn’t always been successful in that initiative.
The franchise has drawn a line in the sand on guaranteed money for quarterback Kirk Cousins, refusing to budge on any guarantees in 2026, which would be the third year of an extension for the QB. If the team is playing that kind of hardball with a four-time Pro Bowl quarterback, it’s reasonable to believe Jefferson is fighting the same battle.
On top of seeking the the richest contract at the position in league history, which would be a figure above $30 million annually, Jefferson also wants clarity and assurances under center. He happens to be a Cousins fan and now also has more leverage in contract negotiations due to the cap spike.
“Whatever he wanted before Friday, he surely wants more now,” Florio wrote. “Jefferson has been very patient. At some point, his patience will run out.”
Justin Jefferson to Play on 5th-Year Option in 2024 Absent Contract Extension
Jefferson is liable to become more vexed with his contract situation as talks drag on, and thereby harder to negotiate with.
“With each passing day, it’s going to get more and more and more expensive,” Florio wrote of Jefferson’s contract.
Spotrac projects Jefferson’s market value at $29.3 million annually, or roughly $117.4 million over a new four-year deal. That projection is probably low, especially considering the cap spike and Jefferson’s new leverage.
He led the NFL in receptions (128) and receiving yards (1,809) in 2022, earning first-team All-Pro honors in the process, and finished last season with over 1,000 receiving yards and 5 TDs despite missing seven of 17 games.
Jefferson will play the 2024 campaign on a $19.7 million fifth-year team option, which the Vikings exercised ahead of last season on the former first-round pick (No. 22 overall in 2020).
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell projected in October 2023 that Jefferson’s trade value is two first-round picks and a mid-round selection/an established starting-caliber player. Were the Vikings to deal the receiver, the team could use the returning capital to try and move up from No. 11 in this year’s draft into the top three and select a potential franchise quarterback.
In turn, that would allow Minnesota to move on from Cousins and save a boatload of money coming and going at both the QB and WR positions. The team would still have second-year wideout Jordan Addison and tight end T.J. Hockenson, as well as vastly more cap space to improve the roster around a rookie quarterback.
It is unclear if that is a preferable outcome to the Vikings front office over keeping Jefferson, though the longer the team waits, the more likely all elements of it become.
