A contract extension for All-Pro wideout Justin Jefferson is a “high priority” for the Vikings this offseason, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah confirmed Tuesday.
“I don’t want to be the Vikings’ GM without that guy on our team,” Adofo-Mensah told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. “So it’s a high priority. We’ve got to make sure we do it in the order that we can do it in, obviously, given all of our other decisions we have to make.”
Jefferson, 23, is in line for a monster payday after catching 324 passes for 4,825 yards and 25 touchdowns across 50 games in the first three seasons of his rookie contract.
NFL Network reported the sides discussed a deal worth up to $90 million over three seasons.
Jefferson made his third straight Pro Bowl and was a unanimous First Team All-Pro selection in 2022 after leading the NFL with 128 receptions and 1,809 yards to go along with eight touchdowns in 17 starts. He was named the NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
A first-round pick (22nd overall) out of LSU in 2020, Jefferson has consistently downplayed the possibility of a huge contract extension.
“That’s not my decision. It is what it is,” he said in January when asked if he deserved to be the NFL’s highest-paid receiver. “They pay me whatever they pay me. They don’t even really have to give me an extension this year. It is what it is. It’s not really something that I’m really worried about.”
Adofo-Mensah has more of a sense of urgency to get a long-term deal done with his young superstar.
“He’s trying to put the Minnesota Vikings on his back,” Adofo-Mensah said. “He wants to win a championship. When you have people like that in your building, you try everything you can not to let them out.”
Jefferson stands to earn a $2.4 million base salary in 2023 in the final season of his four-year, $13.1 million rookie deal.
–Field Level Media