Getty Justin Jefferson #18 of the Minnesota Vikings.
While the Minnesota Vikings say they shot down every trade offer they received amid contract talks with Justin Jefferson, that doesn’t discount that they had offers for the superstar wide receiver, including from the San Francisco 49ers.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Vikings received offers from several teams throughout the Jefferson contract saga.
“There were teams that reached out,” Schefter said on a June 4 episode of his podcast. “The New York Jets reached out about Justin Jefferson. The Indianapolis Colts reached out about Justin Jefferson. The San Francisco 49ers reached out about Justin Jefferson.”
The 49ers are embroiled in their contract dispute with wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who skipped mandatory minicamps the same week Jefferson inked a four-year, $140 million extension with the Vikings.
A trade likely would have a combination of first-round draft capital and a player swap — possibly Aiyuk or Deebo Samuel given the 49ers are against the cap and cannot support three receivers on lucrative contracts in the building.
There was also a report out Pittsburgh that the Steelers reached out about a trade and were “straight up told a trade wasn’t happening,” according to 93.7 The Fan’s Andrew Fillipponi.
These are all bygone hypotheticals, however, they do inform the Vikings’ decision to reach an extension with Jefferson as they made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history.
A front office wouldn’t be doing its diligence not looking into a trade or taking a call, but as the Vikings have maintained, their goal was always to extend Jefferson and keep him in Minnesota for the long term.
Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell Strikes Down Justin Jefferson Trade Rumors
GettyKevin O’Connell and Justin Jefferson
As the Vikings took a victory lap on securing Jefferson to a long-term extension, head coach Kevin O’Connell sought to clear the air after trade rumors clouded the superstar’s future for months.
“There’s a certain way that we kind of do business,” O’Connell said on June 4, per ESPN. “When you hear certain things — a lot of things come and go — and you kind of chalk it up to what they are. But when there’s things that are so far outside the realm of what’s actually happening and taking place, you find yourself wanting to come out and say, which I will unequivocally: We never, ever, one time, discussed it internally among the leadership.
“Some people have sources far and wide, but among the leadership, among the decision-makers, the people that are directly involved in the situation, there really was not one time that was ever discussed, game-planned [or] contingency planned. And I think that’s really important, because it’s not just about the result today, it’s about the process of which we’re pretty proud of.”
Jefferson Ready to Step Up as Vikings’ Leader
GettyJustin Jefferson #18 and Kirk Cousins #8 of the Minnesota Vikings.
While Jefferson admitted that these next five years in Minnesota will be different without Kirk Cousins, he is eager to show the type of leader he can be.
“Having Kirk was a little bit easier with him being a veteran and me pretty much coming into the league with him as my quarterback, things were a lot easier,” Jefferson said during a June 4 news conference.“But of course, things are not always going to be that type of way. There are things that are going to change.
“This is something that I’ve been waiting for and now being the leader of this team and carrying myself a different way,” Jefferson added. “I’m gonna be on everyone, but I’m gonna be on everyone hard and I’m gonna make sure that I’m the leader of this team, and we’re working to where we want to go, which is a world championship.”