Vikings 'Making an Effort' to Extend Justin Jefferson Before Season Begins

We are less than two weeks before the start of the 2023 regular season and Vikings superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson has not yet signed a contract extension.

According to SI's Albert Breer, the team is trying to change that.

No one’s talking much about it, but the Vikings are making an effort to get wide receiver Justin Jefferson signed before the season starts. Jefferson’s kept a pretty low profile about this one, and talks, as far as I can tell, have gone fine. When I visited with him a few weeks back, he told me his absence from parts of the offseason were about endorsement opportunities, not the contract. He did call getting a life-altering second contract “a dream of mine. It’s been a dream since I was 7 years old.” But then he added, “I’m definitely not letting that contract stuff get in the way of my team. We have to be focused on getting to the Super Bowl.” Easier to do, of course, when you know, sooner or later, you’ll be paid at the top of the market.

Jefferson is not only in line for life-altering money, he's probably going to become the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history when he eventually signs his next deal. The only question is whether that happens this offseason or next.

Three seasons into his career, Jefferson has produced at a level the league has never seen before. His 4,825 receiving yards are 662 more than Randy Moss's previously-held record for a player's first three seasons. Jefferson is the face of the Vikings' franchise and one of the faces of the entire NFL. This offseason, he joined the Madden 99 Club and was rated as the second-best player in the league by his peers. And he just turned 24 this summer.

Publicly, the Vikings have made it very clear that they want to extend Jefferson. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has said that he doesn't want to be the Vikings' GM "without this guy on our team." Kevin O'Connell has spoken many times about how crucial Jefferson is to Minnesota' offense. Even owner and president Mark Wilf wasn't shy about acknowledging the importance of a Jefferson contract extension.

"Everyone’s working together on the contract," Wilf said earlier this month. "But certainly we’re aware of the magnitude of this one and in general, certainly involved (as ownership). Justin Jefferson, we want him to stay as a Minnesota Viking."

This is the first offseason in which Jefferson has been eligible for an extension. With two more years on his rookie contract (including the fifth-year option in 2024), the Vikings could opt to wait until next offseason to continue negotiations. But the price will only go up if he continues to produce at an elite level, and waiting could run the risk of Jefferson starting to think about hitting free agency in 2025.

Thus, it makes sense that the Vikings want to get this thing done before the season starts.

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