Justin Jefferson and the Minnesota Vikings have reset the wide receiver market. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, Jefferson and the Vikings have agreed to a ‘Mammoth’ contract extension worth $140 million over four years.
The 24-year-old will earn $35 million a year, of which $110 million is guaranteed. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the deal includes $88.743 million due at signing.
Those figures not only make Jefferson a rich man. They make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL. His new salary tops other recent wide receiver deals, such as those signed by Amon-Ra St. Brown and AJ Brown earlier this offseason, and also tops the massive deal the San Francisco 49ers gave DL Nick Bosa last year. past. Bosa makes approximately $34 million a year, but now Jefferson has surpassed him by more than a million dollars.
Jefferson staying in Minnesota has Vikings fans breathing a sigh of relief. They just lost QB Kirk Cousins to the Atlanta Falcons in free agency and will have veteran journeyman Sam Darnold under center as their first-round pick, JJ McCarthy, prepares to take over the job. It’s a time of big change for the Vikings, and when the offseason dragged into late May without a long-term deal to retain their star receiver, people began to wonder why it was taking so long.
But the time for doubts has passed. The Vikings can keep their historic WR. Since being selected with the 22nd overall pick in 2020, he has caught 392 passes for 5,899 yards, making him one of five players in NFL history with more than 5,000 receiving yards in his first four seasons. Over those four seasons, he averages an NFL record 98.3 yards per game.
This story will be updated.