Justin Jefferson is well on his way to being one of the best wide receivers of his generation, both on the field and financially.
Jefferson and the Vikings have agreed to four-year, $140 million extension, which was reported Monday.
Bill Barnwell of ESPN pointed out that the Vikings financially locked Jefferson into a deal comparable to those that legends at his position before him had. The money per year is, of course, higher, but the percentage of the team’s salary cap remains similar.
Barnwell points out that Jefferson’s contract takes up 13.7% of the Vikings’ cap. It aligns with the deals that Larry Fitzgerald signed with the Arizona Cardinals in 2011 and Calvin Johnson with the Detroit Lions in 2012.
Those contracts were both for eight years compared with the four years that Jefferson got. The Vikings’ overall salary cap total is also greater over a shorter period of time.
To Jefferson’s benefit, however, his deal comes when he is much younger than Fitzgerald and Johnson were when they got their extensions. Jefferson will turn 25 this month, while Fitzgerald was 28 and Johnson was 26 at the time of their deals.
