Justin Jefferson and the Minnesota Vikings are continuing their relationship. The team announced a contract extension for Jefferson on Monday, and it’s a whopper of a deal. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, Jefferson and the Vikings have agreed to a contract extension worth $140 million over four years.
The 24-year-old will be making $35 million a year, with $110 million of that $140 million reportedly guaranteed. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the deal includes $88.743 million due at signing.
Those numbers don’t just make Jefferson a rich man. They make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL. His new salary beats out other recent wide receiver deals, like those signed by Amon-Ra St. Brown and A.J. Brown earlier this offseason, and it also beats the massive deal the San Francisco 49ers gave to DL Nick Bosa last year. Bosa makes approximately $34 million a year, but now Jefferson has topped him by over a million dollars.
Jefferson posted his own announcement of the deal on Instagram, using the time not just to thank God and his family, but to call out his doubters for motivating him to be the best.
Jefferson staying put in Minnesota has Vikings fans breathing a sigh of relief. They just lost QB Kirk Cousins to the Atlanta Falcons in free agency and will be rolling with veteran journeyman Sam Darnold under center while their first-round draft pick, J.J. McCarthy, gets ready to take over the job. It’s a time of great change for the Vikings, and when the offseason stretched into late May without a long-term deal to retain their star wideout, people began wondering what was taking so long.
But the time for wondering is over. The Vikings get to keep their history-making WR. Since he was drafted with the 22nd overall pick in 2020, he’s caught 392 passes for 5,899 yards, making him one of just five players in NFL history with 5,000-plus receiving yards in his first four seasons. Over those four seasons he is averaging an NFL-record 98.3 yards per game.
He won offensive player of the year in 2022, but a hamstring injury hampered his performance in 2023. He was limited to just 10 games, but still managed to average 107.4 yards per game. He should be fully healthy for Vikings OTAs, which begin Tuesday.
