The Minnesota Vikings are in a quandary. Strapped for cap space, the team has elite talent on both sides of the ball, but has robbed Peter to pay Paul in order to keep continuity at key positions, sacrificing future flexibility to field a competitive roster in 2023.
Looming over the team now is the need to extend wide receiver Justin Jefferson beyond the fifth-year option that the team picked up earlier in the offseason. One of the most dominant players in the league at his position, the importance of having Jefferson in the huddle can’t be understated, and the Vikings would be wise to figure out a long-term deal for him as soon as possible.
But Minnesota’s head coach Kevin O’Connell told Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk on Tuesday that Minnesota doesn’t yet have anything in the works for the talented receiver. Though he made it clear that the team’s intention is to sign him to an extension at some point, the lack of urgency in O’Connell’s comment doesn’t bode well for the Vikings, who may have worked themselves into a corner with their best offensive player.
“I don’t know if I’d put a timeline on it, I just know that, you know, we very much are looking forward to having Justin play here for a really long time,” O’Connell told Florio. “He has significantly impacted our organization in so many positive ways on and off the field. I look forward to when we get that done and we can move forward knowing that Justin’s going to be here for the long term and we will get that done.
“Justin knows, his representation knows exactly how we feel about him. We’ll work through that process here over the rest of this spring on into summer and then if we can get something done nobody will be more excited about it than me and we’ll be looking forward to seeing what Justin does in year two in this offense.”
Jefferson’s next contract is sure to be a hot topic over the course of the 2023 season as Minnesota looks to remain atop the NFC North after dominating the division last year. The price to be paid to retain Jefferson will only go up if he maintains the torrid pace of production that he has achieved in his first three seasons.
With other needs to fill in the coming years, the Vikings’ financial situation may turn a no-brainer extension into a drawn-out and painful process for fans who simply want to see their team keep a superstar around for as long as possible.
