In the past few days, much has been made about reports that the Minnesota Vikings attempted to move up in the 2024 NFL draft to take former LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers. A deal to move up for Nabers would have almost certainly involved the Vikings moving star wide receiver Justin Jefferson — who has been looking for a long-term deal — in the trade.
NFL insider and Sports Illustrated columnist Albert Breer doesn’t seem to put much stock in those reports. While Breer is quick to point out that he respects the reporting that went into the article, he’s just as quick to point out that even if the reports are accurate, the idea of Jefferson leaving Minnesota would have been short-lived.
Breer points out in his column for SI that once it was clear the Patriots were staying at 3 and taking former North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye, the market for trades within the top 10 quickly collapsed.
All of this leads Breer to believe that the Vikings will ultimately do whatever is necessary to get Jefferson signed to a long-term deal. However, as Breer points out in the column, the price tag for that deal likely went up with the deals agreed to by the Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown and Eagles’ A.J. Brown.
Getting Jefferson signed long-term is further complicated because this contract dilemma could have faced the team last season, but Jefferson took on an extra year and was rewarded with missing a good portion of it due to injury. That likely did nothing but reinforce the idea that Jefferson wasn’t going to be happy with any short-term Band-Aids to get him into camp.
If and when a deal gets done remains to be seen, but the longer this situation is drawn out, the more speculation we’ll see about Jefferson and potential other suitors. It could be a long off-season for Vikings fans waiting for that alert they all so desperately want to see.