In about a year, superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson will be eligible for an extension and the Minnesota Vikings will likely have to pay big to keep him around.
One could easily argue that no receiver in the history of the Minnesota Vikings has put together a better performance in their first two years with the franchise than Justin Jefferson.
Jefferson broke several Vikings all-time records when he was a rookie in 2021, and last season, he followed up that performance by putting up even more impressive numbers.
Despite only being in the NFL for two years, Minnesota’s young pass-catcher is already regarded by many as one of the best wide receivers in the entire league.
Justin Jefferson heading toward a massive contract from the Minnesota Vikings in 2023
This offseason, one of the biggest topics related to the Vikings has to do with the team’s current starting quarterback, Kirk Cousins, and his future with the franchise. A big factor in Cousins remaining with Minnesota has to do with how much the quarterback could cost the team in 2022 and beyond.
Cousins has made an average of $33 million during his last two seasons with the Vikings, and he’s reportedly not interested in giving his current team any sort of discount when it comes to negotiating a possible contract extension.
When it comes to paying the veteran quarterback, Minnesota also has to think about the players they will likely have to pay in the near future. One of these guys is Jefferson and he could be heading toward a historic deal as early as 2023.
Currently, DeAndre Hopkins of the Arizona Cardinals has the highest average annual salary among NFL wide receivers at $27.25 million per season. When Jefferson becomes eligible for a contract extension in 2023, it wouldn’t shock anyone if he was able to land a deal from the Vikings that paid him an average annual salary of at least $30 million.
One has to believe that possibly having to pay their superstar wide receiver a massive amount of money during the 2023 offseason has to be in the back of Minnesota’s mind while they currently attempt to figure out what to do with Cousins.
Even if the salary cap continues to increase during the next few years, as it’s expected to, paying a quarterback and a wide receiver almost $70 million per season doesn’t make a ton of sense for a team like the Vikings that still has a ton of holes to fill on their roster.
No matter what happens with Cousins during the next few months though, Jefferson is likely going to cash in big during the 2023 offseason if he continues to perform like he did during his first two years in the league.