The Minnesota Vikings have turned their attention to the offseason following their 31-24 loss to the New York Giants on Super Wild Card Weekend, and one of the items on Minnesota's offseason to-do list could be to extend superstar wideout Justin Jefferson.
Jefferson is eligible to sign his first extension this offseason, and Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah told reporters on Wednesday that the team has had preliminary conversations regarding a new deal for their star wideout, per the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
"So we'll start there. We've had initial dialogue with him, his agent, all those things we get back to that in the planning but again it really starts from the player, the person and we'll work on solutions from there on," Adofo-Mensah said, via Chris Tomasson.
The No. 22 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft is coming off a career campaign, in which he caught a league-leading 128 passes for 1,809 yards and eight touchdowns. Jefferson's 106.4 receiving yards per game also marked a career high. If quarterbacks were not eligible for the MVP award, Jefferson would have been one of the favorites.
According to Spotrac's market value tool, Jefferson is in line to sign a four-year, $106,898,056 extension, which carries an AAV of $26.7M. That would make him tied in being the fourth-highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL. It seems more likely that Jefferson resets the market entirely, as he's 23 years old and arguably the best wideout in the league.
Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins has the highest AAV among wide receivers at $30M, per Over The Cap, but Davante Adams of the Las Vegas Raiders has the highest total value in a deal with $140M.
The Vikings are clearly interested in locking up their best player for years to come, and that new deal could come this offseason.
