‘Bold Move’ Sees Vikings Trade Projected $117 Million Star, Let Kirk Cousins Walk
The quarterback position for the Minnesota Vikings offers limited options, prompting consideration of bold moves involving calculated risks.
A trade involving the highly-regarded wide receiver Justin Jefferson and possibly quarterback Kirk Cousins is currently a trending topic. ESPN’s Aaron Schatz, an NFL expert, recently presented this proposition among other bold suggestions to teams across the league on February 23rd. This proposal suggests resetting offensive strategies without these key players in place by 2024.
looned to $19.7 million because of his fifth-year option in 2024, and it’s going to be higher than that if the Vikings can sign him to a long-term extension. He is also making noise that he wants to know the team’s future quarterback plans before he signs that extension.
He probably wants Kirk Cousins back. Cousins had one of his best half-seasons in 2023, but giving him another long-term deal at age 35 might not be the best decision for Minnesota’s future.
So why not just go for a total reset? Trade Jefferson for a couple of high draft picks. Use one of them to draft his replacement, the same way the Vikings traded away Stefon Diggs and used the pick they got in return to draft Jefferson. Perhaps that pick can be used on a young quarterback, or to trade up for a better young quarterback.
It is anticipated that Justin Jefferson will receive the biggest wide receiver contract ever recorded in NFL history.
Justin Jefferson, the wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings.
Schatz pointed out that Minnesota needs to think not only about Jefferson’s cost for this season, but also his price tag across a new four- or five-year deal.
Spotrac predicts that Jefferson’s value in the market will be $29.3 million every year if he signs a new four-year contract, amounting to over $117 million throughout its duration. However, there are various factors which suggest that this estimate may actually fall short of reality.
Firstly, for the first four years of his career and when in good health, Jefferson is widely regarded as one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. Schatz has noted that during each of his initial three seasons, he was among “the top three [receivers] in total value.” Had it not been for a hamstring injury causing him to miss seven games in 2023 season , he likely would have ranked at or near the top last year as well.
It’s likely that Jefferson would have been able to secure the most lucrative deal ever for his position, even without accounting for the NFL’s recent announcement about a $30 million increase in salary cap by 2024. The total amount is set to be $255.4 million with an additional allowance of $74 million per team specifically designated towards player benefits, as reported by Ian Rapoport from NFL Network.
According to Pro Football Reference, the leading playmaker of Minnesota has accumulated 392 catches resulting in a total of 5,899 yards and scoring 30 touchdowns over the course of playing for 60 games.
The combination of Justin Jefferson and Kirk Cousins will come with a hefty price tag, causing other aspects of the Vikings’ lineup to suffer.
The top receiver salary in the league (Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins) tops out with an annual average of $30 million. Jefferson is likely to seek more than that figure over a five-year contract, which will hamstring the Vikings to a degree moving forward if they must also bring Cousins back into the fold.
To be clear, trading Jefferson will hurt no matter what because of how good he projects to be over the next 10 years. As such, advocating for the move outright is a hard sell. But for the sake of argument, his return to Minnesota doesn’t work as well long-term unless the team moves on from Cousins.
Doing both is acceptable only in a world in which the franchise uses the draft capital it gets back to move into the top three and draft a can’t-miss quarterback. Whether that is Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye is difficult to say at this point, though the wrong decision heaped on top of trading a player like Jefferson would likely spell the end for general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
For that reason alone, dealing Jefferson is unlikely. However, if the Vikings can’t figure out a way to get a franchise quarterback in the huddle with less tread than Cousins and higher playoff upside, the whole regime in Minnesota could flip yet again in a matter of just a couple of seasons anyway.
