Vikings ‘Have No Plans’ to Trade Justin Jefferson

The Minnesota Vikings’ offseason went from 0 MPH to the speed of light (671 million MPH) in a matter of moments, when we first found out that Kirk Cousins was moving on. Signings started happening left and right, rumors quickly flew off the shelves and sportsbook odds across the internet started to shift toward the Vikings spending their first round pick come April on a new franchise QB.

Oh, and national media seems intent on trying to push Justin Jefferson out of Minnesota, right behind his former quarterback. Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah tried his best to shut down the JJ trade rumors at the NFL combine, but letting Cousins’ walk has only reignited those trade talk flames.

Are the Minnesota Vikings trading Justin Jefferson?

It didn’t help when former Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert tweeted that he had sources telling him a trade between the Vikings and Bengals was in the works. Of course, Eifert is also a representative for DraftKings and only uses his Twitter account to push his DraftKings sponsorship. I wonder how many sign-ups he got yesterday with this tweet that reached over 650,000 people…?

Sources telling me Jefferson to Cincy is in motion. 👀 pic.twitter.com/4lD96LT4If

— Tyler Eifert (@tylereifert) March 12, 2024

This only added more gas onto those aforementioned Justin Jefferson trade fire flames. A former Bengal tweeting about his sources telling him that JJ is being traded to that tight end’s former team? Seems juicy right, especially if you don’t know that Eifert is probably just desperate for more DraftKings signups (he gets a kickback for each one).

Related: Vikings Noticeably Absent from Bo Nix’s Oregon Ducks Pro Day

On Wednesday morning, Dianna Russini and Alec Lewis (The Athletic) were able to get in touch with someone who matters in the Minnesota Vikings front office, who told her the team “has no plans of trading Justin Jefferson”… which isn’t the verbiage I would have recommended if they want to get fans and front offices off their back about possibly trading their superstar wide receiver.

The Minnesota Vikings have no plans to trade All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson amid the departure of quarterback Kirk Cousins to the Atlanta Falcons, according to team sources.

The Vikings came close to extending Jefferson last offseason. And in Indianapolis during the NFL combine, Minnesota general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah aggressively rejected the idea of trading the star. That hasn’t changed despite the change at quarterback away from Cousins.

Dianna Russini, Alec Lewis – The Athletic

What in the world is happening at TCO Performance Center?

Who knows if the hesitation in this tweet comes from Russini trying to cover her own ass, should Jefferson eventually be traded, or if that verbiage was used by the Vikings, and she is putting it out to the public the same way she heard it.

Related: Minnesota Vikings Next Franchise QB Odds, Following Kirk Cousins’ Departure

Because, ‘we have no plans to trade Justin Jefferson’ is a hell of a lot different than, ‘we are not trading Justin Jefferson’. With that being said, I would still be gobsmacked if news eventually breaks that JJ is being traded. He’s too important to the Minnesota Vikings brand, for the Wilfs to allow that to happen.

Nonetheless, they are the ones who left the door of possibilities slightly cracked open. So, I guess we will just have to wait and see if anything kicks it wide open.