Vikings GM Says Trading Justin Jefferson Has Never Once Crossed His Mind

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah doesn't want Justin Jefferson to play anywhere else.

Whether based on any legitimate reporting or not, there have been some recent rumors and speculation about the possibility of the Vikings making superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson available for trade this offseason. Jefferson is heading into the fifth and final year of his rookie contract, and an extension has not yet been finalized.

GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah shot that idea down during his press conference at the NFL combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday.

"That is not something that's once crossed my mind," Adofo-Mensah said when asked if there's a world where he'd ever consider making Jefferson available in a trade. "You got a blue (elite) player, blue person, you try and keep as many of those as you can."

Jefferson established himself as the best wide receiver in the league when he had over 1,800 yards and won Offensive Player of the Year in 2022. He was first eligible for an extension last offseason, but that didn't come to fruition. It's rare for those deals to get done after a first-round pick's first three seasons, Adofo-Mensah explained, but the two sides were quite close before the start of the 2023 campaign.

"We had a lot of great dialogue last offseason. I think people forget, deals rarely happen after three years, and there's a reason. Two years left, there's uncertainty that somebody's gotta hold — either the club's gotta hold or the player's gotta hold it. There's new money, old money, how do you look at contracts? Those are very hard conversations to have. And so a lot of them don't get done.

"We got unbelievably close. We've said it and will continue to say it, we think he's the best wide receiver in the league and should be compensated as such. We think he's one of the best non-quarterbacks in the league and think he should be compensated as such. And so we'll continue to have those dialogues and those conversations."

Adofo-Mensah has seen some of the rumors out there. There was a report about there being "steam" that the Vikings could trade Jefferson. There was a report that Minnesota's hesitancy to give out multiple guaranteed years is the sticking point in his contract discussions. While noting that he'll never publicly discuss details of negotiations, Adofo-Mensah made it very clear that some of those things are way off.

"I've promised them and I will continue to promise them that I will not talk about our negotiations," he said. "I think this job should be done with integrity. A lot of the stuff that I hear is completely false, but I can't get up here and tell you what's not true or not false because that's not how I've promised to do this job. But I will tell you that we're excited to have him and continue those conversations because he's somebody that we want around for a long time."

Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

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