\n
In the end, the Vikings probably won\u2019t trade Jefferson at all. But it is a notion that, while painful, is at least worth considering.<\/p>\n
Spotrac projects Jefferson\u2019s market value at\u00a029.3 million\u00a0over a new four-year contract. However, when healthy he has been the best receiver in football \u2014 breaking records right and left over his first three seasons, all of which ended in the Pro Bowl. As such, Jefferson has a good chance to break records at the negotiating table as well just as soon as he arrives there.<\/p>\n
Minnesota can afford to pay Jefferson, but the franchise can\u2019t afford to alienate him. If Cousins isn\u2019t coming back, the Vikings must have a strong backup plan with which they can instill confidence in their All-Pro wideout. It won\u2019t be hard for the front office to muster a plan, or six, but it may be difficult to find one that truly puts Jefferson\u2019s mind at ease if none of them involve Cousins\u2019 return.<\/p>\n
He is, hands down, the best free agent quarterback set to hit the market in March. The Vikings won\u2019t get a surefire hit if they draft a QB with the 11th pick or if they trade down and take one later in the first round.<\/p>\n
Jefferson said less than one week ago that he\u00a0wants assurances under center\u00a0before he signs a long-term extension in Minnesota and right now, the team doesn\u2019t appear capable of giving him any. As such, dealing the best wide receiver in football might make sense, but the return must be massive and the QB solution \u2014 for which the trade will pave the way \u2014 must result in a franchise player donning purple and gold.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Minnesota Vikings aren\u2019t budging on a fully-guaranteed contract for Kirk Cousins, which means there could be a new starting QB in town by the time next… <\/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-93658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93658"}],"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=93658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93658\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}