Justin Jefferson Extension: Full breakdown of yearly cap hits until 2029

A collective sigh of relief took place throughout the fan base of the Minnesota Vikings on Monday after the team announced that it had signed star wide receiver Justin Jefferson to a contract extension.

While few Vikings fans actually believed the team's relationship with Jefferson was going to end with some sort of trade, an extension getting signed just helped completely eliminate any concerns about the wide receiver leaving Minnesota anytime soon.

The initial terms of Jefferson's extension were revealed to be four years for $140 million with $110 million of it guaranteed, including $88.743 million guaranteed at signing, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. But now, we know how much of Minnesota's salary cap the All-Pro wide receiver is going to take up during each season until 2029.

Minnesota Vikings free up cap space in 2024 after Justin Jefferson extension

According to Spotrac.com, the yearly cap hits for Jefferson's contract after the addition of the extension on Monday now look like the following.

2024: $8.51 million (3.33% of Minnesota's salary cap)
2025: $15.32 million (5.6%)
2026: $39.14 million (13.39%)
2027: $43.40 million (13.87%)
2028: $47.39 million (14.15 %)

Jefferson's new contract with the Vikings technically expires in 2029 and he will become eligbile for free agency then. However, Minnesota also added an extra void year in 2029 for cap purposes, which is something that the team has typically done during Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's tenure as the franchise's general manager.

If things start to go terribly wrong for Jefferson in a Vikings uniform at some point in the next few years, the earliest Minnesota can release the elite pass-catcher without sustaining a significant financial burden is 2027.

In addition to Jefferson now being under contract with the team until 2029, the extension also freed up some cap space for the Vikings to use this year. Minnesota had $16.5 million in cap space before giving the wide receiver an extension on Monday, and after the new deal was signed, the team now sits with $27.7 million in cap space.

With the extra cap space created by Jefferson's extension, the Vikings could definitely add another notable free agent or two to their roster before the start of the 2024 season.

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