The Vikings’ Option Buried at the Back of the Justin Jefferson Deal
By grinding out a four-year extension for Justin Jefferson, the Vikings will have their WR1 in town for the next five seasons. At 25, Jefferson is still firmly within his prime and Minnesota appears set to have him for the remainder of his 20s.
Something that’s notable about his deal, though, is the Vikings’ option at the tail end; Minnesota could move on with relatively little financial consequence. Yes, the likeliest outcome is that Minnesota sees the full deal run its course (or even adds on another extension), but Kwesi Adofo-Mensah structured things in a manner that will allow for the Vikings to recoup major cap space if there’s a need down the road.
The Vikings’ Option at the End of Justin Jefferson’s Contract
Adofo-Mensah is a shrewd GM. He isn’t afraid of being bold and he’s constantly looking to protect the Minnesota Vikings.
Look no further than his deal with Mr. Jefferson for an example.
After four seasons, Jefferson has re-written receiving records. Even while missing seven games in their entirety and being sidelined in a pair of other ones, Jefferson surpassed 1,000 yards last season. Making the feat even more astounding is that he did so within the QB turmoil that saw four different passers do some passing in Kevin O’Connell’s offense.
Jefferson is, in a word, magnificent. The Vikings were smart to keep him around for the long haul since he’s the franchise’s cornerstone piece.
Consider, though, how the deal is structured. The initial seasons involve relatively modest cap hits and (potentially) huge dead money charges for a cut. As things progress, the ratios flip. The cap charges get larger but the potential cap savings grow larger if a cut ever needed to occur.
- 2024: $8,612,600 Cap Charge — $89,243,000 Dead Money w/ Cut
- 2025: $15,167,600 Cap Charge — $80,630,400 Dead Money w/ Cut
- 2026: $38,987,600 Cap Charge — $41,212,800 Dead Money w/ Cut
- 2027: $43,487,600 Cap Charge — $14,975,200 Dead Money w/ Cut
- 2028: $47,487,600 Cap Charge — $7,487,600 Dead Money w/ Cut
Keep in mind that part of what’s keeping the cost down is a $6 million dead money charge in 2029 even though #18 isn’t under contract for that season. Void year shenanigans, as per tradition with Mr. Adofo-Mensah.
Now, back to the cap numbers.
The 2024 and 2025 seasons are ultra modest for cap hits. A touch beyond $8.6 million and roughly $15.2 million for Jefferson in those years is tremendous. The team will not be cutting him in either of these two seasons, but if they did the cap hit for Jefferson would swell to taking up more than $80 million.
Where things really start to change is in 2026. At that point, Jefferson is making QB money, at least in terms of his portion of the cap. He comes in a touch under $39 million in that season before seeing consecutive years beyond $40 million.
So, major money, but keep in mind that Jefferson is walking in lockstep with J.J. McCarthy. As long as the young passer can provide QB1 play while on his rookie deal, then the Vikings will be just fine.
And those final two seasons give Minnesota a lot of leverage. Scroll up and look at the ratios again. When Jefferson is tipping the scales at north of $40 million in cap hits, the Vikings can save major money against the cap with manageable dead money hits through a cut. Minnesota is very unlikely to see those exact numbers hit the books; more likely is a cut or an extension to bring the totals down in those individual seasons.
Furthermore, the numbers are going to change in the coming years. Adofo-Mensah will reach into the long-term Jefferson deal, shuffling things around to carve out cap space in the immediate.
Even while doing so, though, the Vikings are likely to arrive at a similar spot: the end of the contract will give the team options if there’s a need to move on. Or, perhaps, we’ll see yet another extension that ensures Justin Jefferson finishes off his career playing for the Vikings.
Editor’s Note: Information from Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.