During eventful times, there is often a story that simply goes overlooked despite it deserving some attention. Back in 1969, a man rowed by himself in a sailboat across the Atlantic Ocean and completed his journey the day before the Apollo mission landed two men on the moon, thus rendering him toward the back pages of history.
During the pandemic, there was some talk of the existence of aliens, while we tried to grapple with the changing minutiae of our everyday life and the tumult of our political system.
Looking for a football example of significantly less importance? While we gab about the running back payscale and how many full preseason games Russell Wilson will play before he finally gets some rest, Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson is still without a contract extension, and no one seems to care. Any look back at recent pieces done on the matter are all some kind of word salad about how Jefferson isn’t that worried about it. I’m worried about it!
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It is true Jefferson has two years left on his rookie deal—he will make $2.4 million during the 2023 season, and his fifth-year option will pay him an estimated $19.7 million in ’24—which means that the typical offseason for this kind of discussion is still a year away. It is also true Jefferson is as close to being superhuman as we get in the football space. He is, quite possibly, one of the two or three most valuable nonquarterbacks in the NFL. With him, the Vikings can claim they are an ascending team. Without him, they are the league’s equator buoyed mostly by the capped efficiency of quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Player power is a fickle concept that changes with the wind, but at the moment Jefferson is Thanos. Credit to him for handling this situation with an adopted brand of Minnesota Nice, but how sure can any of us be that the Vikings would return the favor if something went wrong?
Wide receiver is the most injury-prone position in the NFL, according to data from the previous two seasons. While it is extremely rare any of these injuries are career-threatening, and I would probably sign Jefferson’s torso alone if I knew there was a chance it could play some meaningful snaps, it’s hard not to wonder why Jefferson remains at ease given the way we have seen a host of NFL teams use the administrative machinations at their disposal to depress a player’s earning potential.
Maybe Jefferson wants to formally enter the market at the same time as Ja’Marr Chase, which would allow the former teammates to play a game of big-money chicken. That’s dependent on the Bengals solving a complex financial puzzle with Joe Burrow, Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins and Chase, and assuming Cincinnati can still afford to pay Chase in a way that would loft Jefferson into another financial stratosphere.
Maybe Jefferson wants to wait out another free-agency cycle this coming year, though a class with Mike Evans, Odell Beckham Jr., Hollywood Brown and Calvin Ridley in 2024 is more likely to coincide with a further market depression of wide receivers instead of another boom period as we saw in ’22 after the Cooper Kupp, Davante Adams, Deebo Samuel and Tyreek Hill deals.
Maybe Jefferson isn’t the problem here. As we all know, contracts are a two-way street. If that’s the case, all it would take on Jefferson’s part is a few cryptic emoji or an Instagram bio scrub to let the world in on it and signal Skol Nation to wage a full-scale riot. And if that is the case, good luck to the Vikings affording Jefferson next year if he duplicates his 2022 performance. Only the Saudi soccer league would have deep enough pockets.
Hopefully, Jefferson’s just waiting for the right opportunity to make his point. Like, moments before kickoff of Week 1, or as we approach the 2023 trade deadline.
Far be it from me to disrupt harmony, but every practice is a chance for the balance of power to shift ever so slightly. Jefferson is not only the face of the Vikings, but he’s also one of the faces of the NFL.
That, right now, at this moment, is worth a life-altering amount of money. It could be worth more next year, next month, next week. It also may not be.
