The NFL off-season has been one of the most entertaining and movement-heavy off-seasons in recent memory. The Minnesota Vikings have been part of that movement and the headlines throughout the league. Minnesota has been busy with adding personnel in the front office and on the coaching staff and has worked to retool the roster leading into the new year, as have other teams around the NFL.
One thing we haven’t seen from the Vikings, as we have seen with many other teams in the league already, is the payment to star players to either extend their contract or pull them away from their current team. Most recently, some of those instances of off-season pay raises have included star players such as Tyreek Hill, Stefon Diggs, and Davante Adams, among others.
Although Minnesota hasn’t been part of that movement this off-season thus far, it will likely have to put some money forward for a key player on offense in the next year or two. Notably, that includes star wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who could be the next player to get a large pay increase from his team or another team in the NFL.
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Minnesota Vikings Star Justin Jefferson Could Soon Be Due a Big Payday
Since breaking into the NFL in 2020 as a first-round draft pick out of LSU, Jefferson has been a star at the professional level with the Vikings. Minnesota exited the 2020 draft hoping it had found a star in Jefferson, and it appears as though that is definitely the case.
In two years with the Vikings, Jefferson has gone from an impressive rookie to a star, becoming one of the best receivers in the entire league. In 33 games over two seasons, Jefferson has tallied 196 catches for 3,016 yards and 17 touchdowns, improving each season while quickly becoming the top option in the passing game in Minnesota. His sophomore season was so impressive that he was less than 20 years away from setting the franchise’s record for most receiving yards in a single season, only to come up 17 yards shy of the record set by Randy Moss.
With that immediate success and likeliness to have that play continue, Jefferson will be deserving of a pay increase, and his pay bump might join some of those impressive contracts handed out this off-season centered around the top receivers in the NFL.
Already this off-season, we’ve seen the likes of Hill, Diggs, and Adams — all top-tier players at their position — get huge paydays from their teams or teams willing to trade for them and pay them whatever they want. Diggs signed a four-year, $104 million extension with the Buffalo Bills, Hill was traded to the Miami Dolphins and received a four-year, $102 million contract, and Adams was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders and received a five-year, $141 million contract.
When it comes to Jefferson and how he compares to the likes of that trio, it could be argued that Jefferson is already better than them at the young age of 22 years old. Jefferson has already emerged as a top-five wideout in the NFL and is at least a handful of years younger than Hill (28), Diggs (28), and Adams (29). While Hills, Diggs, and Adams are now set to make an average of $26.6 million annually, Jefferson is still on his rookie contract making an average of $3.3 million a year.
Jefferson is likely to continue to be a dominant receiver in the NFL, meaning he could be calling for a pay increase soon even though he has said recently he is just focusing on the year ahead. It is very likely we see Jefferson earn top wide receiver money similar to the contracts Hill, Diggs and Adams received this off-season.
That pay bump is certainly well-deserved, although it will be a big-time commitment for Minnesota. Regardless, the contracts handed out to other receivers lately is good news for Jefferson, and he might end up being the next star to get a big pay increase either with the Vikings or another team.
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