Vikings GM Says Trading Justin Jefferson Has Never Even Crossed His Mind

This is Kwesi Adofo-Mensah third offseason as Minnesota Vikings general manager and superstar receiver Justin Jefferson has been a member of the team since day one on the job. But the past month or so has been a little bit different.

The Vikings couldn’t get a Justin Jefferson contract extension done before the 2023 regular season started so it got shelved until this offseason. But now, he’s on the fourth year of his rookie deal and JJ has been openly frustrated with the lack of movement on contract talks the past couple of weeks.

Those frustrations, along with some insider reports based on whispers behind the scenes at TCO Performance Center, have spun up trade rumors surrounding Jefferson. But when Kwesi met with reporters at the NFL Combine on Tuesday, he wanted to put the JJ trade rumors to bed.

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah puts Justin Jefferson trade rumors to bed

When asked about whether or not the Minnesota Vikings may make Justin Jefferson available on the trade block or if they already have, the GM scoffed and said trading JJ has never crossed his mind, since he has taken the job as Minnesota’s final decision maker on player personnel.

"That is not something that's once crossed my mind. You got a blue player, a blue person, you try to keep as many as those as you can." pic.twitter.com/zjfaThoF9d

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) February 27, 2024

“That is not something that’s once crossed my mind. You got a blue [chip] player, a blue [chip] person, you try and keep as many of those as you can.”

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah

Now, I’m going to assume Kwesi meant to put “chip” at the end of “blue” each time he said it, which is reflected in the quote I put right below the video, since I don’t usually see Jefferson acting “blue” very often. And if my assumption is correct, the Vikings GM is exactly right.

Related: 10 Fastest Minnesota Vikings 40-Yard Dash Times at NFL Scouting Combine

Who cares what JJ could bring back in a trade. Unless you hit on the perfect QB, there is a zero percent chance that you land a player in any trade package who makes an impact franchise-wide, like Justin Jefferson does for the Minnesota Vikings. He’s a superstar personality where we do not get those very often.

Not only do you keep him from a football standpoint, but you keep him on your team from a brand standpoint. I’m glad Kwesi came out so strong against these rumors because trading JJ would have been the most ridiculous thing a GM has ever done for this franchise and history would not have remembered him fondly for a mistake of that magnitude.