The Minnesota Vikings have several players looking to win now, which is why the quarterback position is in the spotlight this offseason. Moreover, certain players will enter the trade rumor mill as the offseason reaches its height, with free agency right around the corner.
Vikings star Justin Jefferson is in his prime and ready to compete for a Super Bowl. Recently, The San Francisco Standard’s Tim Kawakami detailed the optics of a trade for Jefferson, which the San Francisco 49ers could swing with their bevy of draft capital and available cap space, starting at “at least two” first-rounders.
Despite the hypothetical trade pitch, On SI’s Grant Cohn, who also covers the 49ers, shared information regarding the chances of the 49ers actually pulling off a trade of this magnitude.
“I reached out to my source who’s close to the Minnesota Vikings,” Cohn said on Jan. 22 in a video that he posted on X. “As you know, he told me that the Niners are interested in trading for Jordan Addison. Of course, they’re interested in trading for Justin Jefferson, too. They tried to trade for him two years ago. It’s just that the Vikings didn’t want to trade him.
“I asked my source, ‘Hey, is there any chance the Vikings could trade Justin Jefferson?’ and my source said, ‘There’s a zero percent.’ Then he replied to clarify, ‘So there’s a negative one hundred percent chance that they trade Justin Jefferson.’ So don’t get your hopes up. They’re not rebuilding.”
Can the Vikings Contend Now?
The reason Jefferson is in the trade rumor mill is that Kawakami floated the idea that the Vikings’ timeline to win might not align with their wide receiver being in his prime.
“Their timeline is all screwed up by J.J. McCarthy’s slow development at quarterback, which means getting back into contention seems, at best, a few years away,” Kawakami wrote. “How long does Jefferson want to wait around for decent QB play.
“Jefferson hasn’t hinted about wanting to move on, but the idea is bubbling around the league. And the Vikings might need to start hoarding first-round picks to be able to move to the top of a future draft and land their next QB. The best way: Get a few of them for Jefferson and restart the clock.”
The 49ers Could Be Looking at Another Vikings Wideout
Nonetheless, Cohn reported this week that another Vikings wide receiver is on the Niners’ radar as they look to bolster their skill group: Jordan Addison.
“According to a source, the 49ers intend to be quite aggressive this offseason in terms of trades,” Cohn said in a video posted on X. “They want to trade up in the draft, and they want to trade for a wide receiver. And the wide receiver they’re initially targeting in a trade is Jordan Addison of the Minnesota Vikings…
“I don’t know if [the 49ers will] ultimately get him because other teams are probably going to want him. I’m hearing Buffalo is the team that also would like Jordan Addison. Remember, they traded with the Vikings a few years ago for Stefon Diggs. So there’s a history between those two teams. But keep an eye on the 49ers making a play for Jordan Addison.”
49ers Insider Drops Major Trade Update on Vikings’ Justin Jefferson