RUMOR: Justin Jefferson Contract Extension Coming This Week

Justin Jefferson and the rest of Minnesota Vikings players and coaches are spending this week feverishly preparing for their season opener on Sunday, vs the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and the rest of the front office is plenty busy too.

Last week, Kwesi & Co finally finalized a contract extension for (TE) TJ Hockenson, one that took much longer than originally anticipated. This week, as expected, the Vikings are working on doing the same thing with the aforementioned Jefferson, who is going to break non-QB records when his new deal is eventually announced.

Justin Jefferson contract extension coming this week…?

And, according to multiple NFL insiders, we won’t have to wait much longer for that to happen. On Tuesday, Dianna Russini (The Athletic) tweeted that the Vikings have a contract on the table for Jefferson. Shortly after, two local insiders, Ben Goessling (Star Tribune) and David Shama (Shama Sports Headliners), talked and wrote about JJ’s contract being wrapped up sometime this week, prior to Sunday’s kickoff.

We have football this week and there are 4 contract extensions on the table for players that are generational talents.
Joe Burrow, Nick Bosa, Chris Jones and Justin Jefferson.
These are all future Hall-of-Famers that could respectively sign record deals.

— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) September 5, 2023

When you’ve spent the money that you spent on Hockinson, who’s now the second highest paid tight end in the league — I expect Justin Jefferson, by the weekend, will be the highest paid receiver in the league, if not the highest paid non-quarterback in league history — I mean you’re going to have two guys that are locked and loaded for the rest of their primes at top of market salaries, not knowing, at least in the immediate term, who the quarterback is.

Ben Goessling Tuesday on KFAN Radio (92Noon w/Paul Allen – 10AM Hour)

Another topic of Jefferson news is an expected contract extension that could be announced this week.  The new terms might be $30 million or so over five to six years.  How much will be guaranteed? “That’ll be a $100 million plus, I am sure,” said the source referenced earlier.

David Shama – ShamaSportsHeadliners.com

Superstar talent is expensive

Employing Jefferson will be a heavy hit on the Wilfs’ pocketbook, over the next handful of years, but that’s what happens when you roster superstar players at key skill positions. JJ is said to want a 3-year contract extension, which would keep him on roster through the 2027 season and still allow him to cash in again, at the age of 27.

Jefferson has set records for receptions and receiving yards, in his first three seasons as an NFL wide receiver, and projects to be one of the greatest in league history, if he can continue that production and stay healthy.

A big part of any wide receiver’s success has to do with who is throwing them the football. Minnesota is paying premium offensive dollars to (RT) Brian O’Neill, Hockenson and, soon, JJ. That will make it difficult to keep (QB) Kirk Cousins on roster, if he demands market value ($40-$50 million per year), when his contract comes due next offseason.

For Jefferson’s superstar to continue its climb, over the next half-decade, and for the Vikings to make deep playoff runs in that span, Kirk Cousins may have to flip the narrative on his ‘money-hungry’ career. Instead of hitting free agency next March, with the goal of cashing in on one last market-setting contract, Minnesota sports fans must hope Kirk takes a discount contract in order to stay with a superstar pass-catcher, like Justin Jefferson.

But that’s something Minnesota Vikings fans can worry about down the road. For now, let’s just get our best player under contract for as long as possible.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan