The Justin Jefferson contract is done. ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Monday reported Jefferson and the Minnesota Vikings agreed to a four-year contract worth up to $140 million with $110 million guaranteed. This comes with some good news and some bad news for the 49ers.
The bad news is that the wide receiver market is now completely flipped on its head. By paying Jefferson the largest non-QB contract in NFL history the Vikings have altered the terms on which WRs like Brandon Aiyuk will negotiate on moving forward.
It’s worth noting, and this is the sliver of good news here for San Francisco, that Aiyuk won’t command a Jefferson-level deal. Jefferson is perhaps the best WR in the NFL who has produced consistently since his rookie season in 2020, the same year as Aiyuk.
However, the bar is no longer around $60 million guaranteed. Now Aiyuk’s camp can start in the $110 million guaranteed range and work down from there.
This is one of the perils of doing business the way the 49ers do it by waiting until training camp to start seriously negotiating deals. Aiyuk may have always wanted to wait until the Jefferson deal was done to get down to business, and if that was the case he was wise to do so because an adequate deal now looks much pricier than it did in March.
