The Minnesota Vikings have plenty of decisions to make under new general manager Nolan Teasley, but the biggest is whether to extend Jordan Addison or not.
While Addison’s under contract through the 2027 season, his price has gone up with each extension a receiver has signed this summer, and another data point was revealed on Thursday when ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported that Michael Wilson agreed to a three-year, $75 million deal with a maximum value of $78 million.
To most Vikings fans, comparing Addison to Wilson feels like shortchanging their own receiver.
But with two eerily similar stat lines, it could be the baseline for what Addison could get in his next deal, with the potential to make more money with a big performance this season.
Minnesota Vikings have a perfect Jordan Addison contract comparison after Michael Wilson’s new extension
Wilson may not feel like a fair comparison to the casual Vikings fan, but the path to his payday is very similar.
A third-round pick by the Cardinals in the 2023 draft, Wilson started off by clearing the 500-yard mark in each of his first two seasons before breaking out with 78 catches for 1,006 yards and seven touchdowns last year.
His final eight games of last season put him over the top, where he caught 56 passes for 775 yards and six touchdowns, and that production left him with the same numbers that Addison has had in his first three seasons in the NFL.
Jordan Addison | Michael Wilson | |
|---|---|---|
Games | 46 | 46 |
Receptions | 175 | 163 |
Receiving Yards | 2,396 | 2,119 |
Receiving TDs | 22 | 14 |
Contract | TBD | Three years, $75 million |
Addison had a slightly different path than Wilson as a first-round pick out of USC, and while Wilson is 26 years old, Addison won’t turn 25 until January.
In some ways, Addison’s career has been flipped upside down compared to Wilson, catching 70 passes for 911 yards and 10 touchdowns but falling to just 42 catches for 610 yards and three touchdowns last season.
Despite the drop, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell views Addison as a critical piece to his offense across from Justin Jefferson.
Minnesota has also taken steps toward a new deal, picking up his fifth-year option for the 2027 season. While that move buys time, it also gives Addison a chance to rehab his value ahead of an important 2026 season.
Michael Wilson’s new contract gives Jordan Addison all the motivation he needs for 2026
If the Vikings were smart, they’d offer Addison a similar contract right now. But Addison’s best move may be to table talks and have a strong 2026 season.
Addison showed what he can do at his best early in his career, and while he caught 63 passes for 875 yards and nine touchdowns during the 2024 campaign, those numbers could have been larger had he not missed two games due to injury.
Last year’s production was disappointing, as he missed the first three games due to suspension and set career highs with six drops and a 7.6 percent drop rate.
But trading in J.J. McCarthy for Kyler Murray should help those numbers and help Addison go back to the negotiation table with a much better case to get paid.
Addison will also have to stay out of trouble, as a player who was cited for speeding just before his rookie season, arrested for DWI in the summer of 2024 before it was reduced to a lesser wet reckless charge, and arrested again for trespassing at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa, Florida, last January.
But for now, the biggest thing he can control is turning in a big year.
If Addison can do that, he’d likely start pushing towards some of the bigger receiver extensions such as Zay Flowers’s four-year, $140 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens, Chris Olave’s four-year, $124 million contract with the New Orleans Saints or Alec Pierce’s four-year, $114 million contract with the Indianapolis Colts.
But for now, Wilson’s extension should be viewed as a baseline of what Addison’s next deal could look like and it could be motivation for a monster performance in 2026.
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