BREAKING: Vikings and Justin Jefferson agree on new contract

[MAD GAINZ]

Again, I wouldn't have a problem with that. Why not keep his cap hit the same this year ($19.7M) and chop $11M from his $39M third year hit, dropping it to a more tolerable $28M. Like I said, I think there's a good reason for it, because every team does it, and I don't think it's just that they're pushing money into the future. I just don't know what it is. Might have to do with bonuses, guarantees, injury potential? Who knows....

You can roll over cap so maybe the Vikings are looking at it from that perspective?  Or maybe we're trying to get Darrisaw done this offseason too and want to have enough room to squeeze him in as well?

Even with the rising cap and the timing of this extension (well after FA and the draft), I'd rather eat a larger cap hit now and keep those future hits lower.  Brez is the best in the business at managing the cap so I'll defer to his judgement on this but seemed like an opportunity for us to lessen the financial hit down the road to keep this competitive window wide open.

[1VikesFan]

Except I just saw an article about how we're going to have to trade Darrisaw!!!!!   Lol

Never stops does it?

[MaroonBells]

Except I just saw an article about how we're going to have to trade Darrisaw!!!!!   Lol

That's just silly. With a QB on a rookie deal for at least 4 years the Vikings can afford JJ, Darrisaw and a half dozen other high priced players. The QB is and always will be the only chunk that really matters. Even after handing over $110M guaranteed to JJ, his guaranteed money would rank 12th if he were a QB. In fact, all 15 of the top 15 salaries ranked by percentage of cap are QBs. 

IOW, Vikes are gold until the other JJ comes due.

[purplefaithful]

Justin Jefferson's contract with Vikings: It's a wow, yes, but here's why it makes sense

Justin Jefferson's record-setting contract is many things.

Important. Historic. Impressive. Encouraging. Eye-popping.

But when the news broke on Monday morning that the Minnesota Vikings were going to pay their star receiver $140 million over four years, there was one thing it shouldn't have been:

Surprising.

Despite months, if not years, of silly speculation about the Vikings trading Jefferson, or Jefferson wanting to leave the team, this deal was never not going to happen.

The Vikings are not fools. Their ownership is not cheap. They were never going to let Jefferson leave, or force him to leave, after he produced the best first four years of any receiver in NFL history.

This wasn't Stefon Diggs fake-coughing his way out of town.

This wasn't Randy Moss walking off the field during a game at Washington, and behaving in a way in the team facility that forced the Vikings to trade one of the greatest receivers who ever lived.

Jefferson has been a model teammate, player and worker. Those looking for a fault on the field are left to overanalyze every wince or head shake that occurs on the sideline during a loss.

The deal also dispels another myth: that Jefferson's fate was tied to Kirk Cousins. Jefferson and Cousins worked well together, but Jefferson and his advisers were never going to let a good relationship with a pretty good quarterback dictate Jefferson's earning power or place of employment.

Jefferson is smart enough to know that he is playing in an ideal system and playing for ideal coaches. They want to surround him with talent, but not to lessen his impact on the offense. They can and will "scheme" him open.

This is a great deal for the Vikings, because they keep a great player. This is a better deal for Jefferson.

He not only becomes, however temporarily, the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, he also signed a deal that will theoretically allow him to hit free agency at the prime age of 29.

The best guess is that, if he remains healthy, the Vikings will find a way to keep him long term, but he will probably be in line for a contract that will make this contract look like it was written by somebody named Scrooge.

The only real question remaining regarding Jefferson is how he'll handle working with Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy.

Maybe he'll wince or shake his head on the sideline if this becomes a rebuilding year, a year dedicated to getting McCarthy acclimated to the league.

One of the reasons the Vikings are willing to pay Jefferson this much is that they expect him to help Darnold and McCarthy, as a receiver and a teammate.

And he will.

If Darnold is capable of being an NFL starting quarterback, he'll have every chance to prove himself in this offense, with Jefferson making his life easier.

If McCarthy is the right quarterback for the Vikings, Jefferson will speed his development.

Irrational Minnesota paranoia and rational Vikings paranoia combined to create all kinds of nightmare scenarios regarding Jefferson.

None of them were realistic.

This deal was always going to happen, and it shouldn't be surprising that it happened just in time for Jefferson to work with Darnold and McCarthy at practice this week.

https://www.startribune.com/justin-jeffe...600370677/

[Kentis]

   

[StickierBuns]

[medaille]

That's just silly. With a QB on a rookie deal for at least 4 years the Vikings can afford JJ, Darrisaw and a half dozen other high priced players. The QB is and always will be the only chunk that really matters. Even after handing over $110M guaranteed to JJ, his guaranteed money would rank 12th if he were a QB. In fact, all 15 of the top 15 salaries ranked by percentage of cap are QBs. 

IOW, Vikes are gold until the other JJ comes due.

To me, it’s not the QBs cap hit that is the problem as much as it is the QBs performance.  There’s a small handful of QBs that carry their team.  Everyone else needs the surrounding cast needs to be so good to make the situation workable that it’s just really hard to build a roster that is super bowl competitive.  The QB influences the game so much that if you don’t have a top tier guy, it’s just really tough, and the drop off from Elite QB to the second tier of guys is massive.  If you have mid-tier performance at the QB position, it probably doesn’t matter what else is happening on the team.
The odds are likely that the Vikings are worse off keeping JJ and getting rid of Cousins, than it would have been to keep Cousins and get rid of JJ, but your odds of winning a SB with a Cousins caliber QB is just not great.

[JimmyinSD]

To me, it’s not the QBs cap hit that is the problem as much as it is the QBs performance.  There’s a small handful of QBs that carry their team.  Everyone else needs the surrounding cast needs to be so good to make the situation workable that it’s just really hard to build a roster that is super bowl competitive.  The QB influences the game so much that if you don’t have a top tier guy, it’s just really tough, and the drop off from Elite QB to the second tier of guys is massive.  If you have mid-tier performance at the QB position, it probably doesn’t matter what else is happening on the team.
The odds are likely that the Vikings are worse off keeping JJ and getting rid of Cousins, than it would have been to keep Cousins and get rid of JJ, but your odds of winning a SB with a Cousins caliber QB is just not great.

a point I have been trying to drive home for years.... but there are always the anomalies that will get thrown in your face... ( fuck you Trent Dilfer and Eli Manning )

[StickierBuns]

To me, it’s not the QBs cap hit that is the problem as much as it is the QBs performance.  There’s a small handful of QBs that carry their team.  Everyone else needs the surrounding cast needs to be so good to make the situation workable that it’s just really hard to build a roster that is super bowl competitive.  The QB influences the game so much that if you don’t have a top tier guy, it’s just really tough, and the drop off from Elite QB to the second tier of guys is massive.  If you have mid-tier performance at the QB position, it probably doesn’t matter what else is happening on the team.
The odds are likely that the Vikings are worse off keeping JJ and getting rid of Cousins, than it would have been to keep Cousins and get rid of JJ, but your odds of winning a SB with a Cousins caliber QB is just not great.

But top-tier has to be defined then. Because there are less than 'top-tier' guys that have won Superbowls. And less than top-tier guys that have GOTTEN to Superbowls. What a top-tier QB does mostly is keeps your team knocking on the Superbowl door more often than lesser QBs. Other X-factors usually assist in playing a part to winning it all. Only 13 QBs in NFL history have won more than one Superbowl with Brady winning 7 and Bradshaw and Montana winning 4 each. Its REALLY hard to win a Superbowl. You can say with a straight face that Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers both underperformed mightily considering their Hall of Fame careers in winning Superbowls. You need the right bounces, a little luck and some help unless your name is Tom Brady, Terry Bradshaw or Joe Montana....and probably Patrick Mahomes. 

I'd be more concerned about if a QB can keep knocking at the door, can carry a team when need be and is consistently very good. How many Superbowls he wins is a tough metric to measure a QB by outside the truly great ones I've mentioned which is less than a handful over the modern era of the NFL. Its rarified air and the expectations as a fan is your favorite team won't be getting a Tom Brady or Joe Montana.

[Waterboy]

Good news, glad it's done. Curious what the 1st year cap hit is. Guessing the Vikings clear about 9 or 10 mil from JJ's $19M 2024 cap hit.

Why would they want to clear his cap hit?  Better to take the punishment during an expected down year than to defer til when we're competitive.