The best wideouts in the league are getting paid. From the Lions to the Texans to the Eagles, everyone is making sure their elite unit is taking home what they deserve. Will the Minnesota Vikings be able to follow suit? Eagles’ AJ became the highest-paid wideout after his contract renewal and now all eyes are on Viking’s Justin Jefferson’s contract.
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Jefferson is eyeing the top dollar. He wants to become the highest-paid WR in the league and could be looking at least $35 million. Mike Florio feels the Vikings might have to loosen those purse strings after they failed to trade up in the draft for Malik Nabers.
Floro appeared on the recent episode of Pat McAfee Show where he asserted that Minnesota was contemplating trading Jefferson after they had landed Nabers, but now they are likely to get a deal done. Getting the LSU wideout would have been a lot cheaper than giving Justin a new contract.
But now the Vikings have finally understood what they have to do to keep him. Mike believes that the Vikings might have to prepare a contract based on total average and structure. He said,
“I think it’s taken the Vikings time to come to terms with what it’s gonna take to get this done. It’s plain and simple, it’s how much you fully guarantee at signing. Vikings don’t go as deep into the future as other teams do when it comes to full guarantee. They need to deviate from that to get this deal done.”
Vikings are one of the franchises with a contract strategy of not giving big guaranteed contracts. But Florio asserted that they would have to deviate from that and give their star wideout at least 3 years of a guaranteed contract, which they were unwilling to do. Justin Jefferson deserves to get paid and become the highest-paid non-QB player. But what will he fetch after the market has exploded?
How Much Will Justin Jefferson Be Looking to Bag?
The Vikings have to break the bank on the former LSU wideout. The franchise and the players both agree on one thing- he should be the highest-paid non-QB player. So any contract that doesn’t reflect that reality will not move the talks further. Before May, Tyreek Hill was the standard for the market with all the other receivers hoping to get around that.
After May, $30 million is the old reality with two more receivers earning more than that. As per AZ Central, the Eagles are paying AJ Brown $32 million, making him the highest-paid WR, for now. The Lions gave Amon Ra a 4-year $120 million deal, earning $30.003 million with $77 million in guaranteed money. The Vikings will need to do better than that.
Jefferson might be eyeing somewhere in the region of $35-40 million, for arguably being the best receiver in the league since his arrival in 2020. Despite missing 7-8 games last season, he put over 1000 yards. With a rookie QB at the helm, Minnesota has to make sure to pay him after they failed to retain Kirk Cousins.
