Latest arrest throws Jordan Addison's Vikings future into question again

Jordan Addison's off-the-field actions continue to complicate the Vikings' impending decisions regarding his long-term future with the organization. Addison was arrested for probable cause trespassing in Florida on Monday, booked into county jail, and released after posting bond. It's the wide receiver's third arrest in less than three full years since the Vikings selected him in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

The offseason after a player's third year in the NFL is a big one. For first-round picks, that's when the team has to decide (by the May 1 deadline) if they're going to exercise the fifth-year option on that player's rookie contract. Players also become eligible to sign long-term contract extensions after their third season.

From a pure talent standpoint, there would be little question about the Vikings picking up Addison's fifth-year option, which is projected to cost them around $17.5 million in 2027. He's coming off a down season that included some drops and was also partially a product of the struggles of Minnesota's passing game as a collective, but Addison had around 900 yards and 10 touchdowns in each of his first two seasons.

Jordan Addison | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

However, the Vikings clearly have to factor more than just football into discussions around not only Addison's fifth-year option, but the possibility of keeping him in Minnesota on a long-term second contract. He was cited and charged with a misdemeanor for driving 140 miles per hour prior to his rookie season. He was arrested for DUI after being found asleep in his vehicle in a July 2024 incident that led to a three-game NFL suspension to begin the 2025 season. Shortly after that suspension ended, Addison was benched for the first quarter of the Vikings' game in London because he had missed a mandatory walkthrough during the week. Now he's been arrested a third time.

“I just learned about that very, very recently," head coach Kevin O'Connell said in a year-end press conference on Tuesday. "So I don’t want to speculate on that in any way, shape, or form. I do think we’ve got to get as many facts and find out exactly what happened. Speculating on it at this point would be incredibly premature for me.”

Addison's latest arrest will once again lead to conversations within the Vikings' organization about whether or not they can rely on him to stay out of trouble moving forward. With each subsequent incident, it becomes a more concerning trend.

What exactly this means for Addison's future is uncertain. He's likely cost himself a substantial amount of money on his next contract, whether that's with the Vikings or another franchise. If the Vikings wanted to trade him, this presumably also deals a blow to his value in that regard. Will they pick up his fifth-year option and revisit contract talks next offseason if he avoids legal trouble between now and then? Would they consider declining the option and letting him reach free agency in 2027?

Addison's uncertain future could also impact how the Vikings view No. 3 receiver Jalen Nailor, who is an unrestricted free agent coming off back-to-back seasons of at least 400 yards and 4 touchdowns. Will they be more aggressive in trying to re-sign Nailor this spring if they don't feel like Addison is in their long-term plans?

“We just found that information, so I don’t want to speak too deeply about it," GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said on Tuesday. "But obviously any decision you make with Nailor or anybody else is about the short term and the long term of that (WR) room. Jordan is unique because 99 percent of the days that Jordan Addison is a Viking, he is a joy to be around. He is incredibly intelligent, confident, responsible. And then, like all of us, it’s what are you like on those 1 percent of those days? Is it the type of thing that draws attention or not?

"And obviously that’s something we have to consider when you’re talking about long-term ramifications of a contract extension, different things like that, or letting somebody like Jalen Nailor leave. We’ll have those conversations. Obviously just a few days after the season and this event just happened, we have not (had those yet). Always supportive of Jordan Addison. We’ll continue to fact find and see what actually happened and then we’ll have those conversations in the future."

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