The Minnesota Vikings arrived on the NFL scouting mix on a mission, a minimum of when it got here to the media portion of the occasion. Past discussing the hiring of defensive coordinator Brian Flores and a number of impending wage cap cuts, the group’s leaders had been decided to precise how a lot they love receiver Justin Jefferson as negotiations for a contract extension loom.
“I do not wish to be the Vikings GM with out this man on our group,” normal supervisor Kwesi Adofo-Mensah mentioned.
“Considered one of my favourite gamers I’ve ever coached,” coach Kevin O’Connell mentioned.
“When you have got guys like that in your constructing,” Adofo-Mensah mentioned, “[you] strive every thing you may to not allow them to out.”
Generally you will see an NFL group maintain again its true emotions a couple of participant in public to keep away from influencing the negotiations. If Adofo-Mensah would not need the job if Jefferson leaves, is there any worth he would not comply with?
Within the case of Jefferson, nevertheless, there is no use in pretending. He earned All-Professional honors in 2022 at age 23 after main the NFL in catches (128) and receiving yards (1,809) and constructed a case to be thought-about the NFL’s greatest receiver. The Vikings could be committing team-building malpractice in the event that they did not plan to do every thing possible to strike a deal.
For his half, Jefferson betrayed no hesitation about an eventual precedent-setting payday. Talking in January, he mentioned {that a} new deal “comes with the success” and added: “It is probably not one thing that I am actually nervous about or I’ve my thoughts set on. It is simply actually performing for my group, simply doing no matter I must do to get this group to the place we wish to go. However the cash stuff, that comes with the job.”
The ground of negotiations is the $30 million annual worth receiver Tyreek Hill acquired final spring as a part of the commerce that despatched him from the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs to the Miami Dolphins. Assuming either side settle for that deal as a baseline, the harder a part of the talks could be the size. A 3-year, $95 million deal, as an example, would put Jefferson in place for a second payday at age 26, when most gamers are up for his or her first. Even a five-year, $165 million extension would give Jefferson one other crack at new cash at age 28.
The size of Jefferson’s deal would correlate with greater than his subsequent chunk on the monetary apple. It might additionally join with the one situation that sources across the league say may lavatory down these negotiations: The Vikings’ plan at quarterback for the timeframe of Jefferson’s contract.
Adofo-Mensah has mentioned he expects quarterback Kirk Cousins to be the group’s starter in 2023, however Cousins’ contract is about to run out subsequent spring and it is not but clear if the edges will permit it to play out. Jefferson has been outspoken in his assist of Cousins over the previous three years, however he additionally understands the fact of getting a quarterback who’s approaching his thirty fifth birthday.
First, pairing Cousins’ wage with a Jefferson contract extension would require some care by way of wage cap administration. The Dolphins, for instance, paid Hill to play alongside quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who on the time was two years into his rookie contract that consumed solely $8.3 million in cap house for 2022 and $9.6 million in 2023. However it’s removed from an unattainable job. This season, as an example, the Los Angeles Rams could have receiver Cooper Kupp on the books for $27.8 million in cap house whereas quarterback Matthew Stafford performs below a backloaded deal that may depend $20 million towards the cap.
Cousins is about to depend $36.3 million towards the Vikings’ cap in 2023, however that quantity would cut back dramatically provided that he and the Vikings agree on a multiyear extension. The Vikings may backload Jefferson’s subsequent contract with large, totally assured base salaries, however once more, that maneuver normally requires a five- or six-year period to maximise its affect. And even in that case, Jefferson virtually definitely would transition to a brand new quarterback over that time-frame.
All receivers understand how a lot the standard of a quarterback can have an effect on manufacturing, and thus, future earnings. So it was notable that in January, when requested if he wished to remain in Minnesota, Jefferson answered with decidedly impartial phrasing.
“I imply, I can be wherever I am wished,” he mentioned. “If they need me right here, I am right here. That is not one thing that I can actually management.”
If the Vikings wished to play hardball, they may pay him his $2.4 million wage for 2023, decide up his fifth-year choice of $19.7 million for 2024 after which use the franchise tag to retain his rights in 2025 and 2026, an method that may price about 30% lower than signing him to a multiyear extension.
The tone of final week’s feedback makes it arduous to think about the Vikings shifting right into a confrontational negotiating stance, and in reality, Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell told a group of local reporters they’ll maintain Jefferson looped in on their offseason plans. Substantive negotiations aren’t prone to occur till after the Vikings get to the opposite aspect of free company.
However at this level, the group appears desperate to strike a deal, and Jefferson seems to simply accept the fact of what is coming. There is not any cause to cover it.