Getty Justin Jefferson #18 and Kirk Cousins #8 of the Minnesota Vikings.
Justin Jefferson has been an ideal date throughout his four years with the Minnesota Vikings.
He’s waited patiently for the Vikings to make him the highest-paid wide receiver in football.
He’s said all the right things, appearing at Super Bowl Week in Las Vegas where national media pundits pressed him for any signs of frustration that the Vikings haven’t put a ring on it.
But the bill is at the table, and it’s time for the Vikings to pick the tab.
“I’m waiting,” Jefferson said on “The Rich Eisen Show” on February 8. “I’m looking for the bag, just like you are. I’m waiting for the call to experience that with my family. It’s life-changing. I’m waiting for it.”
Justin Jefferson Expects Vikings to Meet His Worth
Entering the fifth and final year of his rookie deal this year, Jefferson is poised to reach a record-breaking contract extension after the Vikings and his representation came close to a deal the night before the start of the 2023 season.
The two sides have maintained contact but deferred the final decision for the 2024 offseason — one in which the Vikings must provide answers to Jefferson about what their future may look like after failing to win a single playoff game in his four years with the team.
“There’s conversations, there’s conversations. We’re trying to have good communication and stay on the same page. I know it’s going to come. I’m not in any rush. Like I’ve been saying throughout the season, I’m focused on football. I know what I’m going to get and what I’m worth,” Jefferson said. “I feel like I have the right people, the right support system around me, to make sure I’m getting everything I serve and no one is taking advantage of me.”
Jefferson’s worth has been undeniable throughout his four-year career. His 5,899 yards receiving is the most by any player in their first four seasons in NFL history. The starting rate of his contract will exceed $30 million a year after Tyreek Hill reset the market in the 2021 offseason — and he has a case to become the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league.
Beyond the money, the biggest sticking point in contract negotiations is the direction of a Vikings franchise that is at a crossroads with who will be throwing the ball to Jefferson next season.
Justin Jefferson Addresses Kirk Cousins’ Future With Vikings
GettyWide receiver Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings
The future at quarterback is the No. 1 question the Vikings and Jefferson’s camp face in contract negotiations.
Kirk Cousins is an impending free agent and garnering buzz around the NFL despite coming off an Achilles injury. Keeping Cousins around could be enough to keep Jefferson happy in the short term as he continues to rack up receiving records.
However, when the dust settles and Jefferson gets his new deal, the money won’t be enough. He wants to compete for Super Bowls.
That will prove difficult since the Vikings roster has atrophied from its 2017 NFC Championship game run. Sub-par drafting the past four years — two of which were Rick Spielman drafts — leaves rebuilding with valuable free agents the only option. It will be difficult to make meaningful signings with Jefferson and Cousins paid north of $30 million a year.
The other option is the unknown, which even Jefferson is skittish to embrace.
“I would like [Cousins] to stay. I would love to have him stay and have that connection with him. It’s going to be difficult to create that connection with a whole new quarterback. We don’t know if we’re going to draft one. We don’t know if we’re going to pick one up. It’s a little bit of a difficult situation,” Jefferson said. “I would like to have him back. I would like to have him in that locker room.”