Report: TJ Hockenson wants 'historic' contract, talks with Vikings 'far apart'
According to The Athletic's Dianna Russini, contract talks between the Minnesota Vikings and T.J. Hockenson "are far apart." Not only that, but Russini says "Hockenson wants to reset the market with a historic contract extension for tight ends."
The Vikings and tight end T.J. Hockenson have been working on an extension, but both sides are far apart, per league sources.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) August 23, 2023
Hockenson wants to reset the market with a historic contract extension for tight ends.
He has been limited at practice because of an ear infection and…
Darren Waller's annual average salary of $17 million is the highest among NFL tight ends, followed by George Kittle ($15 million), Travis Kelce ($14.3 million), Dallas Goedert ($14.2 million) and Mark Andrews ($14 million).
Hockenson has gone through individual drills at Vikings training camp, but he hasn't participated in 7-on-7 or 11-on-11 sessions, nor the joint practices with the Titans and Cardinals, since Aug. 3.
Head coach Kevin O'Connell says the ear infection that Hockenson was dealing with has improved, but he's not dealing with some minor back stiffness.
"He's recovered from his ear infection. He did recently come to me and [the training staff] and just came in with some lower back stiffness where he was off to the side today," O'Connell said Wednesday. "Possibly have him tomorrow or be ready to roll when we start our general prep next week."
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.