Justin Jefferson

[pattersaur]

Guys I’m scared.

I know it’s the offseason and I might be catastrophizing but I hope this team doesn’t screw this up.

The arguments for waiting to extend him— which I’ll be charitable and say were sound at the time— all got pretty much blown up when the league announced the larger than expected upcoming cap increase.

This is a Ring of Honor, HOF player. You do not trade these guys and if you do, you DEFINITELY don’t do it when other teams know the player wants out, depleting the value.

This post is a silent prayer to the Viking gods— please do whatever you can to extend JJ.

I just get nervous when I see Charley Walters murmuring about trade talks and I see JJ’s jersey on sale at retailers. Smoke yes fire no but still. I’d sit easier in my recliner with no smoke at all.

Stop fiddle fricking around KAM and get this deal done!

[Guest]

I would like to see this get done sooner than later too. 

Here's the thing though; the Vikings and JJ contingent knew the cap was going to evolve.

I'm not surprised nothing has happened till that was finalized. 

[Guest]

I wonder what JJ would be worth in a trade, two firsts?  Two years ago
Adams was traded to the Raiders for a 1st(22) and a 2nd(53).  Would the
Vikes use JJ's trade value to nab a new rookie QB?  I bet it's been
discussed by the Vikes FO, and they know better than any of us how good JJ is.

[Guest]

Charlie Walters murmuring about trade talks, that's funny because he tends to throw shit against the wall with no basis to support his rambling.  The Vikings know JJ is the face of the franchise, he isn't going anywhere.

[Guest]

It will get done but after the Cousins deal is agreed to. They are in no rush.

[Guest]

Two things:

JJ is probably in the second tier of players we resign.  While it's definitely an "important" priority to resign him, it's not an "urgent" priority to resign him.  We control his rights for 3 years.  We can sign him when it is convenient for us as long as the money works for JJ and since he'll likely be a long term commitment, we can manage his cap hit in a much more flexible manner than we can with other more short term players.

While we all want JJ to sign with the Vikings, there is a price where it no longer makes sense.  We need to accept that this is a negotiation and each side needs to do what's right for them.  JJ needs to get the most he can, but at the same time, the more we give JJ the less we can give everyone else and eventually it hurts the team.  We can't "Just pay the man".  If the numbers don't make sense, we either need to trade him to some team that will pay him too much or we need to wait until next year, franchise him and negotiate then.  You can't just pay everyone whatever they want.  I think you should be just as scared of the Vikings paying JJ too much, Cousins can't perform as expected, and now JJ is a malcontent with a massive contract.  Similar to how Adams is in LV after they kicked Carr out, how Wilson is in Denver, and how Diggs was prior to him forcing a trade which luckily worked out, but we ate a big dead cap hit to do it.

[Guest]

Who was it that said R-E-L-A-X?   Oh yeah that guy with the beard and the goofy ideas. 

Anyhoo, I think JJ is a Viking this year, and if he isn't signed at this time next year then they put the tag on him and either match or get big draft capital in return.   I don't think the ultra-conservative ownership of this team is looking to deal away their best box-office asset.  The money machine is purple priority numero uno, never forget that fact.

[Guest]

@purplefaithful said:
I would like to see this get done sooner than later too. 

Here's the thing though; the Vikings and JJ contingent knew the cap was going to evolve.

I'm not surprised nothing has happened till that was finalized. 

There are some competing factors involved as well, especially when it came to the negotiations last year. 

Right now Jefferson is set to make $19.7M on the 5th year option and can be tagged twice for around $25.5M in 2025 and $30.6M in 2026. So all in the Vikings can play it out year-to-year for a total of $76M or $25.3M per year. Far below his market AAV of $33-35M per year. Players have little leverage on the tag these days and albeit uncomfortable, it gives the Vikings A LOT of leverage. 

Where that leaves Jefferson is likely choosing between taking a high $ total offer with lesser guarantees or higher guarantees at a suppressed value. I just don't see how he'll get both given the Vikings positioning. The other side of this, is if JJ wants a short-term deal, why would the Vikings just not play out the tag-game? Its going to have to be 4-5 years at minimum for MN. 

I have little doubt it'll get done. The Vikings leverage is not specific to them. This would be the case for any team. But whether that means it gets done now, this summer or even next year is a bit more up in the air. 

[Guest]

Thank you all for talking me off the ledge! My toddler’s weekly griddy lessons will go on as planned!

[Guest]

I think the odds of us trading Jefferson are extremely low. Will we listen to offers? We'd be fools if we didn't. But I think it would take an historic haul for this to happen. And part of that haul would have to include JJs replacement, IOW a pick in the top 5 this year. 

Cousins, McCarthy at 11, Addison and, say, Marvin Harrison Jr with another 1st rounder next year is something I wouldn't slam the door on.