The Minnesota Vikings made a colossal Commitment to Justin Jefferson, making the All-Pro pass catcher the highest-paid wide receiver across the NFL.
Continuing a lucrative offseason for receivers across the league, the Vikings and Jefferson agreed to terms on a four-year contract worth $140 million that includes $110 million fully guaranteed, as Minnesota’s mandatory minicamp gets underway.
That’s a lot of griddying in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes.
Widely viewed as one of the premier players in the sport, Jefferson has caught 392 passes for 5,899 yards and 30 touchdowns across his first four seasons since being chosen No. 22 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, out of LSU.
Now, the Vikings are ensured that the top of the depth chart at receiver and incoming first-round rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s top perimeter targets will be Jefferson and emerging talent Jordan Addison for at least the next four seasons.
However, as soft a landing as general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and the Vikings have now ensured for McCarthy, there are other big winners from Jefferson’s deal across the NFL.
Justin Jefferson Contract Biggest Winners
This has been the most lucrative receiver market in recent memory, and truly the inverse of the 2023 running back nadir.
Amon-Ra St. Brown, A.J. Brown, and Tyreek Hill all briefly spent time this offseason as the highest-paid receiver in the sport, with DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle also signing high-paying contract extensions before Jefferson’s mega-pact.
However, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and San Francisco 49ers wideout Deebo Samuel may prove to be the biggest winners of Jefferson’s extension.
“Those two deals will only help CeeDee,” a prominent agent familiar with the WR market recently told me on how Brown and St. Brown’s contracts impact Lamb. “They push the No. 1 wide receiver market above $30 million annually. CeeDee will probably reset the market based on how Dallas does deals.”
Imagine what happens to Lamb’s value after the Jefferson deal.
Meanwhile, both Aiyuk and 49ers teammate Deebo Samuel are seeking long-term extensions from the reigning NFC Champions.
Both of the asking prices for those two top targets just went up significantly after Justin Jefferson’s contract has been agreed to.
“At that number or higher,” Jeremy Fowler reported on ESPN, comparing Aiyuk’s demands to St. Brown’s deal.
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