While Justin Jefferson Waits on An Extension, Vikings Are Looking Like the Old Lions

In a general, health of the industry sense, I care whether the report about the Minnesota Vikings possibly trading up for wide receiver Malik Nabers is true. But for the purpose of this exercise, it doesn’t matter whether the St. Paul Pioneer Press (and subsequent outlets who have confirmed the existence of this information) heard it from a member of the Vikings’ front office or from Jefferson’s Sleep Number delivery man. 

The idea that the Vikings liked another wide receiver and tried to trade for him (thus making Jefferson expendable before the team has to pay him the largest receiver contract and, quite possibly, the largest non-quarterback contract in NFL history) now exists in the atmosphere. It has arrived like a storm cloud or a thick fog, polluting the environment in which general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has to operate. The Vikings can call Jefferson and assure him it isn’t true, which I’m guessing they’ve attempted to do regardless of the validity of the report. It’s up to Jefferson and his camp to believe it at a very sensitive juncture. 

For the record, I like the idea of trading Jefferson and thought Adofo-Mensah should have done it before the draft. Indeed, if the return for Jefferson is what some around the NFL believe it to be, the Vikings could have been better positioned to draft a QB successor of the future and grab a secondary wide receiver to pair with Jordan Addison, much like the Chicago Bears were able to do this year with the selections of Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze. 

Nevertheless, the Vikings opted to hold on to Jefferson while the receiver market went through another sizable increase after the A.J. Brown and Amon-Ra St. Brown deals. At this point, it makes all the sense in the world for Jefferson to wait out the conclusion of the Ja’Marr Chase contract in order for him to maximize his dollar value. That could mean missing training camp at a critical juncture for rookie J.J. McCarthy. 

If anything, now is a good time to finger wag. We should all appreciate the difficulty of Adofo-Mensah’s job, which involves pacifying a million people and remaining loyal to ownership and their ultimate wishes for how money is spent. He is probably being tugged from all ends like a vintage Gumby figurine. But he has unquestionably suffered in his efforts to be too cute with many aspects of his job as GM of the Vikings, including and especially the Jefferson contract. 

If the Vikings plan on keeping Jefferson, he should have been under contract by now, plain and simple. He should have been under contract before opening day of 2023. He should have been signed the second he became eligible to sign because good, competitive teams serious about not trading away young talent tend to sign their players before the absolute last minute as a show of good faith and a knowledge that the market is only going to rise (see: the Eagles with DeVonta Smith, the Lions with Penei Sewell and Jared Goff). The fact that Jefferson has made it unsigned this long is more of an indication that the team explored a possible trade or replacement scenario than the actual report itself. 

Now, we are seeing the perils of leaving the gate wide open. Situations like this only exist to complicate a negotiation that should already break the mold when it comes to receiver contracts. The Vikings, as a franchise, have their backs against the wall given that they’ve proven a willingness to dole out fully guaranteed contracts (see: Kirk Cousins). They have, as we mentioned, their backs against the wall due to the emergence of a somewhat highly drafted rookie quarterback they would like to legitimize at some point. They have their backs against the wall because the NFC North is swelling in terms of talent with the Green Bay Packers, Bears and Lions all ascending. Minnesota has its back pressed up against the wall because Christian Darrisaw is also soon due a payday commensurate with the top of an exploding offensive tackle market. Again, thanks to the Lions and their willingness to uncomplicate their financial lives, that bar is now at $28 million per season.

So, everyone is watching. This includes Jefferson, who, miraculously, as of the posting of this column, has yet to “like” some conspicuous post on social media referencing his displeasure of the Vikings. Though, one has to wonder how far off that next microaggression truly is. 

There are times when one can understand a situation’s complexities and clearly understand why both sides remain in a hostile posture toward one another. Le’Von Bell and Saquon Barkley were the perfect example. Both played a dangerous position and accrued high mileage in the process. Jefferson is unquestionably the best player at his position. He has been better, in terms of catches and yardage, over his first four seasons than Randy Moss. He has no peer. 

That should have placed us in a space where none of what is currently happening occurs outside of the traditional, theatrical back and forth between a player’s agent and team through the media. Instead, we are cornered in a place where the Vikings could actually be looking more like the old Lions than the new ones, a team that alienates star power to the point of dejection. True or untrue, the news of the Vikings possibly trading up for Nabers in the draft has pushed Jefferson further away.