{"id":80675,"date":"2024-01-15T05:21:03","date_gmt":"2024-01-15T05:21:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/?p=80675"},"modified":"2024-01-15T05:21:03","modified_gmt":"2024-01-15T05:21:03","slug":"vikings-writer-warns-of-potential-justin-jefferson-trade-better-chance-kieu-linh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/vikings-writer-warns-of-potential-justin-jefferson-trade-better-chance-kieu-linh\/","title":{"rendered":"Vikings Writer Warns of Potential Justin Jefferson Trade: \u2018Better Chance\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>While the\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0facing several critical personnel decisions this offseason, one future piece of business might loom larger than all of them<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1880557409-1-e1705288676780.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Fourth-year star wideout\u00a0Justin Jefferson\u00a0is entering the final year of his contract. With three trips to the Pro Bowl, one All-NBA selection, and one Offensive Player of the Year award under his belt, he will command a handsome sum on his next contract, and he has intimated as much.<\/p>\n<p>That could present a problem for General Manager\u00a0Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere could be a better chance of Jefferson, 24, getting traded than anybody\u2019s saying,\u201d\u00a0Pioneer Press columnist Charley Walters\u00a0wrote on January 13. \u201cThat\u2019s because it doesn\u2019t make sense to pay the NFL\u2019s best receiver the money he wants (expected to be at least $150 million over five years) on a team that\u2019s not expected to be seriously competitive for several more years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Justin Jefferson&#039;s Top Plays | 2023 Regular Season\" width=\"790\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/duDjU49yXeY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Mensah has to address quarterback with\u00a0Kirk Cousins\u00a0a free agent this offseason. And there is no viable passer on the future on the roster.<\/p>\n<p>Joining Cousins are a slew of defenders, most notably stud pass rusher\u00a0Danielle Hunter. And Minnesota is looking at roughly $39 million in cap space this offseason before making any roster moves,\u00a0per Spotrac.<\/p>\n<p>This could also be a critical offseason for the Vikings\u2019 braintrust.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA full Vikings rebuild could be shaky for GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and coach\u00a0Kevin O\u2019Connell, both of whom next year enter the third of four-year contracts,\u201d Walters wrote, citing Adofo-Mensa\u2019s draft record. \u201cEven Adofo-Mensah\u2019s predecessor,\u00a0Rick Spielman, whom\u00a0Washington\u00a0has solicited to help in its coaching search, drafted better than has Adofo-Mensah.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Walters also speculated on what Jefferson\u2019s trade market could be.<\/p>\n<h2>Vikings Star Justin Jefferson\u2019s Trade Market \u2018More Than 2 1st-Round Picks\u2019<\/h2>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-4666171 visible aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1915422690-e1705288413762.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4666171\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1915422690-e1705288413762.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" \/><\/h2>\n<p>\u201cThe market for Jefferson would depend on where a team trading for him is picking in April\u2019s draft,\u201d Walters wrote. \u201cBut it would be more than two first-round picks. Trading Jefferson for high draft picks would allow the Vikings to rebuild the way the\u00a0Lions\u00a0and\u00a0Bears\u00a0have done the last two years, from the ground up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Minnesota won the division at 13-4 last season. But they are also openly in the midst of a\u00a0competitive rebuild\u00a0of their own.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Detroit got a bevy of draft picks for\u00a0Matthew Stafford\u00a0\u2013 and\u00a0T.J. Hockenson\u00a0\u2013 in recent years, building up a roster that won the NFC North at 12-5 this season. Chicago turned the No. 1 pick in 2023 into a haul, including\u00a0DJ Moore\u00a0and the 2024 No. 1 pick.<\/p>\n<p>The Bears could also flip quarterback\u00a0Justin Fields\u00a0to a team for draft capital this offseason.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t think Vikings owners\u00a0Zygi and Mark Wilf, who have made the playoffs just seven times in 17 seasons, haven\u2019t watched those rebuilds,\u201d Walters wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Minnesota got a package headlined by the No. 22 overall pick in the 2020 draft in the trade that sent\u00a0Stefon Diggs\u00a0to the\u00a0Buffalo Bills. Diggs had not accomplished as much at that point in his career as Jefferson has through four seasons.<\/p>\n<p>The Vikings subsequently used that pick to select Jefferson.<\/p>\n<div id=\"AdThrive_Content_6_desktop\" class=\"adthrive-ad adthrive-content adthrive-content-6 adthrive-ad-cls\" data-google-query-id=\"COGMtLjS3oMDFTpMwgUdsdsNnA\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/18190176,25816858\/AdThrive_Content_6\/5ad7479721520f50ab7da88e_0__container__\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Weighs-In on Justin Jefferson\u2019s Future<\/h2>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-4666170 visible aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1737312784-1-e1705288303935.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Minnesota Vikings\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4666170\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1737312784-1-e1705288303935.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" \/><\/h2>\n<p>Jefferson has spoken confidently about the situation. He knows that his payday is coming one way or another after putting together the resume he has.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course, I will want a contract to be done. But at the end of the day, it\u2019s all up to them and what the ownership want to do with that,\u201d Jefferson\u00a0said via the team\u00a0on September 7. \u201cThat\u2019s up to them. My focus is on playing football and doing something that I\u2019m good at. So, I\u2019m good at being on that field and catching the football, and that\u2019s what I continue to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Adofo-Mensah said he is eager to get into those talks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had a great, actually, dialogue with his representation this morning,\u201d Adofo-Mensah said during his\u00a0season-ending media availability\u00a0on January 10. \u201cI stay in contact with all of our players\u2019 representatives, but we had a great, great relationship, and the good part is we have a shared history now. We did a lot of the work last season.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jefferson first became eligible for an extension last season, and the Vikings engaged his representation on a potential extension.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing came to fruition. But Adofo-Mensah is still bullish.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m always optimistic about those things,\u201d Adofo-Mensah said. \u201cObviously, we have to address that and a bunch of other things, but I\u2019m looking forward to those conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While the\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0facing several critical personnel decisions this offseason, one future piece of business might loom larger than all of them Fourth-year star wideout\u00a0Justin Jefferson\u00a0is entering the&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80675\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}