Another Contract Extension Means T.J. Hockenson’s Price Just Went Up
Josh Frey
|
Over the past few days, as training camps get underway across the league, many teams are trying to wrap up contract extensions for their star players in order to keep them under team control for years to come.
One of the Minnesota Vikings rivals made such a move on Wednesday morning, inking TE Cole Kmet to a new four-year deal worth a total of $50 million. The deal guarantees Kmet will make at least $32.8 million. Adam Schefter of ESPN reported the extension, tweeting, “Another deal: Bears and TE Cole Kmet reached agreement on a four-year, $50 million extension, including $32.8 million guaranteed and $20 million in new first-year cash, per me and @FieldYates.”
This extension means the Bears get to keep their emerging tight end alongside QB Justin Fields for years to come, but it also means that Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson likely just saw his price tag go up.
Kmet, 24, had his breakout season for the Bears in 2022, catching 50 passes for 544 yards, and 7 TDs. Meanwhile, Hockenson nearly doubled Kmet’s receiving production last year despite being forced to split time between two different teams in Detroit and Minnesota. He recorded 86 receptions for 914 yards and 6 TDs last year. In just 10 games for the Vikings, Hockenson had 60 of those receptions for 519 yards and 3 TDs.
There is an argument to be made that Kmet can be more valuable than Hockenson as a blocker, but at the end of the day, what Hockenson means to the Vikings in the passing game more than cancels out that value, particularly considering Josh Oliver, one of the best blocking TEs in the league, is under contract for three years.
Hockenson isn’t the only Vikings star that may have indirectly made himself more money on Wednesday, either. Christian Darrisaw is another candidate considering Andrew Thomas of the New York Giants signed a new five-year deal worth up to $117.5 million.
Throw in the eventual Justin Jefferson extension as well as a potential Danielle Hunter contract, and Minnesota has a lot of money to spend on just four players in the next year. Luckily, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has been planning for this all along, and hopefully, the deals will get done to keep many of the Vikings stars in Minnesota.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.