Former Chicago Bears offensive lineman Kyle Long believes the Minnesota Vikings should trade superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson.
Ever since the Minnesota Vikings selected him with the 22nd overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Justin Jefferson has quickly developed into one of the best wide receivers in the entire league.
Despite Jefferson's individual accomplishments on the field, the Vikings have only made the playoffs in one of his four seasons with the franchise.
This offseason, many are expecting the All-Pro wide receiver to land a gigantic extension from Minnesota. However, there are some who think the Vikings should see if they can trade Jefferson this year instead.
Former Pro Bowler says Minnesota Vikings should trade Justin Jefferson because the didn't win the Super Bowl
With the majority of the NFL teams already in offseason mode, the competition for the most outrageous takes among sports analysts for 2024 has begun, too.
CBS Sports' Kyle Long, a former Pro Bowl offensive lineman for the Chicago Bears, decided to kick the offseason off with a take that he likely assumed would set the internet on fire.
Here's what Long had to say.
"The Minnesota Vikings, you need to trade Justin Jefferson. Because you've got the best receiver in football, but you didn't win a Super Bowl.
Kirk Cousins, had an awesome year, but you've got other weapons in Braylon Addison, a number of receivers, you've got a great tight end there, you've got a coordinator, a great offensive mind at head coach.
Go get rid of Justin Jefferson. Get a ton of other great players."
Wow, okay, words were definitely said by Long. Not too sure if they made much sense, but there is visual proof that he actually made these comments.
First off, Minnesota should trade Jefferson because they didn't win the Super Bowl this season?
Long did spend a decent amount of time in the NFL, so he should know that only one of the 32 teams in the league is able to win the Super Bowl in a given season.
So because the Vikings are one of the 31 franchises that isn't going to end up with a Vince Lombardi trophy this year, they should trade the best player on their roster?
This really doesn't seem like a good enough reason.
This was an opportunity for Long to state some actual, legitimate reasons why Minnesota should trade Jefferson this offseason, and instead, he backed up his ideas by mentioning how Kirk Cousins "had an awesome year," the Vikings have "a number of receivers" including "Braylon Addison," and Minnesota has "a coordinator."
Mr. Long, Cousins did not have an "awesome" year. He missed nine games after tearing his Achilles in Week 8, and he's about to become a free agent, meaning he might not even be back with the Vikings for next season.
Also, Braylon Addison? Really? I mean, Long might get a pass if he screwed up Jordan Addison's name by calling him by another first name that begins with the letter J. But Braylon? No, that's not even close.
Now, Long is correct in the fact that Minnesota has "a number" of other receivers in terms of quantity. But in terms of quality, a group led by Jalen Nailor, N'Keal Harry, and Trishton Jackson isn't about to re-create "The Greatest Show on Turf" if Jefferson is traded.
Oh, and in case anyone needed any more dynamite convincing from Long about why Jefferson should be traded, the Vikings do indeed, have "a coordinator" on their coaching staff.
Believe it or not, there are actually legitimate reasons why Minnesota might consider trading Jefferson this offseason. However, none of them came out of Long's mouth.