Worried about Justin Jefferson leaving the Vikings? Do not bet on it.
Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson deserves a new contract, and the team should pay him whatever it takes.
A Vikings official pointed to a spot near the Vikings’ locker room where he wanted Justin Jefferson to conduct his postgame news conference.
“Over there,” the official said. “In front of the trash.”
Jefferson’s painful and impressive 2023 season ended with that bit of symbolism — the Vikings’ one true superstar adjacent to that which is expendable.
In the Vikings’ 30-20 loss to the Lions at Ford Field on Sunday, Jefferson caught 12 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown. The loss left the Vikings out of the playoffs with a 7-10 record, the first time they’ve reached double-digit losses since 2013.
Jefferson was not only brilliant when he played, he was also brilliant when financial advisers might have been telling him not to play at all. Negotiations on a lucrative, long-term contract with the Vikings fell through last summer. Jefferson didn’t hold out. He didn’t “hold in” — which means showing up to work but not practicing or risking injury, which is the way T.J. Hockensen handled his contract negotiations.
Jefferson didn’t shut down, either, after injuring his hamstring when the Vikings looked like a lost cause. Jefferson returned and played with the same passion and daring he displayed when the Vikings were winning 13 games last year.
“I can’t say enough about him,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said. “It means a lot to him to be a captain of our team. He sets a standard of competing at a world-class level. There’s a lot we can follow, as far as the example he sets.”
Jefferson played in 10 games this season. He produced 68 catches for 1,074 yards and five touchdowns. He has surpassed 1,000 yards in each of his four NFL seasons. Only Cris Carter, with eight, and Randy Moss, with six, have had more 1,000-yard receiving seasons in Vikings history.
Only four other NFL receivers have topped 1,000 yards in each of their first four seasons: Moss, Michael Thomas, Mike Evans and A.J. Green.
For all of his accomplishments, Jefferson has played in just one NFL playoff game, a loss last year to the Giants. Take that fact, blend in his apparent frustration on the field and sideline on Sunday, and factor in the Vikings’ inability to sign him last summer, and you could presume that Jefferson will become the latest star receiver to become a headache. The Vikings, after all, are the franchise that traded Randy Moss and Stefon Diggs in their primes.
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