Justin Jefferson Skips Vikings’ First Round of OTAs

The Minnesota Vikings had two monumental things to check off their list this offseason. They accomplished one, after Kirk Cousins walked in free agency and they drafted J.J. McCarthy.

The other pressing matter is Justin Jefferson’s contract situation, which remains very much unsolved, meaning that he wasn’t in the building on Monday for the start of the Vikings’ voluntary organized team activities.

WR Justin Jefferson, who has been in talks with the Vikings regarding a contract extension, was not spotted at the team’s training facility today for the start of organized team activities, per team sources. pic.twitter.com/CveEKWYMWw

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 20, 2024

Justin Jefferson is the best wide receiver in football, and for some time now he has been in talks with the Minnesota Vikings regarding a contract extension.

Don’t expect to see Justin Jefferson until his extension with the Minnesota Vikings is finally done

Entering the final year of his rookie deal, there is no reason to believe he will take the field without a payday. That is going to come in the form of a massive amount, and he will break the recently set record by Detroit Lions Amon-Ra St. Brown.

Until that deal is done though, you can bet he won’t be involved with any Minnesota Vikings initiatives. There have been multiple points this offseason in which it could have made sense for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Jefferson’s representation to hammer out a deal.

With different lulls between periods of excitement, an extension for Jefferson could dominate the news cycle, and it certainly will when it takes place as well. Still, it doesn’t appear that anything is imminent.

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Training camp doesn’t start for the Minnesota Vikings until July 29 and the real date to watch is June 4th when mandatory minicamp begins. These voluntary workouts didn’t include Jefferson’s presence last year either, so this absence is plenty expected.

Not having Justin Jefferson participate at the start of training camp when breaking in both Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy would be anything but optimal. He could be doing some of that now with OTAs underway, but the missed time is a bit less damaging.

There can’t be much uncertainty from either side at this point. There is no way that Jefferson’s camp hasn’t made his numbers known, and the Vikings aren’t in a spot with much leverage to push back and not get it done.

This is a generational type of talent that the Vikings were able to draft, and pairing Jefferson with Jordan Addison for years to come is something that everyone involved wants to see happen.

Ultimately the J.J. to J.J. connection will be a fun one to watch, and if the young quarterback winds up being a franchise fixture, then Kevin O’Connell should have a team to be reckoned with in the not-so-distant future. The sooner contact discussions can end, and on-field highlights can begin, the better.