Report: Vikings extension with Justin Jefferson could be agreed by Sunday
Just four days before the season begins Sunday against the Bucs, the Minnesota Vikings are reportedly “on track” to sign wide receiver Justin Jefferson to a long term contract extension.
According to Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune, the Vikings are aiming to have the deal done before Sunday’s 12 p.m. CT kickoff against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers against
Speaking on the Access Vikings podcast, Goessling said "every indication that we have is that it looks on track to be done by this weekend.
"You have to get all the Is dotted and the Ts crossed but negotiations seem to be progressing with a pace that you would expect Justin Jefferson is probably celebrating a new deal before he goes out on the field Sunday against Tampa Bay."
You can listen to the podcast here.
Goessling goes on to say that at the very least Jefferson can expect to be the highest paid wide receiver in the NFL – currently Miami's Tyreek Hill at $30 million a year – but could potentially become the highest paid non-quarterback in the league.
The highest paid non-QB is now 49ers pass rusher Nick Bosa, who agreed a five-year, $170 million extension on Wednesday that works out at an average annual salary of $34 million.
If Jefferson hopes to stake his claim as the richest non-QB he will need more, perhaps as much or more than Kirk Cousins’s $35m salary in 2023-24.
Numerous NFL insiders have said the Vikings hope to get the deal done before the regular season begins, including a report Tuesday from The Athletic’s Dianna Russini saying the Vikings have an offer on the table.
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.