He’s entering the last year of his rookie contract and the Vikings continue to state publicly that they have no interest in trading JJ. But until pen hits the paper, nothing can be officially ruled out.

Mike Florio: Are Minnesota Vikings waiting THAT Justin Jefferson trade offer?

Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk), a noted Vikings fan who uses his abundant number of sources to constantly keep tabs on his favorite team, is starting to believe Minnesota is delaying talks while they wait for a team to slide them a serious trade offer “they won’t refuse”.

Per Mike Florio of @ProFootballTalk, he feels the #Vikings are waiting for someone to make them an offer for star WR Justin Jefferson they can’t refuse 👀

“And even though the Vikings insist they aren’t considering trading Jefferson, at times it feels like they’re waiting for… pic.twitter.com/odkAGzpu5w

— The Purple Persuasion (@TPPSkol) May 26, 2024

Now, with Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson, 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk, Bengals receiver Tee Higgins, and Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb still clamoring for new contracts (all have stayed away from OTAs), the question becomes whether they’ll eventually end up with other teams, too. The Vikings already have Jordan Addison, who’s entering year two of his first-round rookie deal. The 49ers added Ricky Pearsall in the draft. The Bengals took Jermaine Burton. And the Cowboys, well, who knows what they’re doing?

If Aiyuk wants Amon-Ra St. Brown money, maybe that’s why no one traded for him during the draft. And even though the Vikings insist they aren’t considering trading Jefferson, at times it feels like they’re waiting for someone to make them an offer they won’t refuse. With Higgins, all signs point to the Bengals squatting on him for 2024 and then letting him walk. As to Lamb and the Cowboys, again, who knows what they’re doing?

Mike Florio – ProFootballTalk

What’s unclear is what type of offer the Minnesota Vikings would be waiting for. Is Jefferson worth two first-round picks? Three? Four? The last elite wide receivers to be traded were Tyreek Hill and A.J. Brown.

Hill went from Kansas City to Miami for a 1st (No. 29), 2nd (No. 50), two 4ths and a 6th.  Brown was traded from Tennessee to Philadelphia for a 1st (No. 18) and a 4th (No. 101).

Related: Local Insider: No Doubt Sam Darnold Will Be Vikings Starting QB in Week 1

Despite those semi-recent trades, Jefferson easily commands more than that given his age and talent. Plus we already know he’s on track to becoming the highest paid non-quarterback in the NFL.

Per @AdamSchefter via @SportsCenter, he believes a deal with #Vikings WR Justin Jefferson will eventually get done and that he will become the highest-paid non-QB in NFL history surpassing #49ers DE Nick Bosa’s $34M AAV 🤯

"When this deal gets done, and I think it will… pic.twitter.com/CTZQMBd2VG

— The Purple Persuasion (@TPPSkol) May 22, 2024

Could Wide Receiver market be peaking with Justin Jefferson?

At what point are teams getting diminished value for great wide receivers? How big does the gap in salaries need to get before paying a great WR isn’t worth it anymore? Most of these guys wind up being replaceable, especially when the difference in pay is $20 million. These aren’t quarterbacks, after all.

In a recent analysis on wide receiver success rate, Mike Kashuba of Last Word on Sports noted that the success rate of first-round wide receivers from 2011 to 2021 was 46.5%, while the success rate of second-round wide receivers was 37.0%.

These numbers are fairly high and Kashuba notes that once you include the wide receiver classes of 2022 and 2023, the success rate will rise even higher. If you can flip a coin and hit on a receiver, why not try that instead of shelling out all those coins to pay one? Florio goes as far as comparing today’s WR market to yesteryear’s running backs…

The heart of the problem could be that teams are realizing that you don’t need to give receivers big money. That you can draft one who will be, dollar-for-dollar, a better deal.

That’s what has happened over the past 20 years at the running back position. Teams generally stopped paying big money because they could roll the dice in the draft, and then develop the player. While Burks hasn’t exactly filled Brown’s shoes in Nashville, Jefferson was a Day One star after the Vikings swapped him out for Stefon Diggs in 2020. And the Packers are currently regarded as having a great group of young receivers. And, again, the Chiefs have won every Super Bowl played since they traded Hill.

Mike Florio – ProFootballTalk

Overall, it is still more likely than not that Jefferson and the Minnesota Vikings come to an agreement on a contract extension. Given what he will command in guaranteed money, these types of contract negotiations take time and patience.

Related: ESPN Ranks J.J. McCarthy’s Supporting Cast Behind Caleb Williams’ and… Daunte Culpepper’s

In the very small percent chance that the Vikings do not re-sign Jefferson and trade him, General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Head Coach Kevin O’Connell are going to have a lot of angry fans calling for their jobs.

Let’s hope they get the deal done, and new rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy and Jefferson have numerous bountiful years together in purple and gold.

Houston Texans initiated March trade with Minnesota Vikings

Most have believed for the last three weeks that it was Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah who approached the Texans front office, in order to initiate that deal. On Thursday morning, however, Adam Schefter (ESPN) was on Get Up and made it very clear that it was Houston who contacted Minnesota to jumpstart that trade.

Per Adam Schefter, it was Houston who approached Minnesota to initiate the trade last month that sent No. 23 overall to the #Vikings, not vice versa… pic.twitter.com/VIFM4ddGrP

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) April 4, 2024

“And then this offseason, you could begin to trace the breadcrumbs. And they started really a few weeks ago when the Houston Texans — yes, the Houston Texans — went to the Minnesota Vikings to make a trade to get out of the first round. Now, many people assumed that the Vikings initiated that deal to get extra capital in the first round for a quarterback, when it was the Texans who initiated that trade to get out of the first round. Clearly, there was a reason they wanted out of the first round, and they wanted extra second round capital to go make a move like the one they did yesterday for Stefon Diggs.”

Adam Schefter – Get Up (ESPN)

How much does this news change the public perception of what the Minnesota Vikings plan to do in the draft? Umm… kind of a lot. Kwesi and Kevin O’Connell’s new buzzword this offseason has been “flexibility”. They’ve been trying to convince us since day one that they aren’t married to trading into the top-5, in order to draft their next franchise QB, if the cost is too ridiculous.

Maybe the Vikings’ plans are as “flexible” as they claim…

I am one of those media personalities that has pushed back on that propaganda for months. To me, it’s never made sense for the Vikings to acquire that No. 23 overall pick, if it wasn’t part of some bigger plan. Others have even gone as far as to say the Vikings must have a handshake deal already in place with an anonymous draft night trade partner.

But after hearing Schefter, it’s clear that trade was not Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s idea. That means… not only did this trade allow Minnesota more flexibility, like KOC and KAM have incessantly talked about, but the move, itself, was the definition of “flexible”.

Related: Vikings QB Interest: Three Private Workouts and One Canceled Meeting

Houston saw Stefon Diggs (maybe other WRs too) as gettable and needed more 2nd round draft capital to get him. So, they approached Kwesi about a trade idea that made sense for both teams. Thus, Kwesi showed off his flexibility and got it done.

Now, I still believe the Minnesota Vikings will find a way to package their two first round picks in order to move up and draft either JJ McCarthy (Michigan) or Drake Maye (UNC). Nonetheless, this report opens my mind a little bit to the possibility that Kevin O’Connell & Co could be open to drafting a QB like Michael Penix Jr, who the Vikings have been linked to a lot, of late.

Minnesota Vikings make trade for additional 2024 1st round pick

On Friday morning, he appears to have made the first chess move of the 2024 NFL Draft, trading the 42nd overall pick, the 188th overall pick and next year’s 2nd round pick to the Houston Texans, in exchange for this year’s 23rd and 232nd overall picks. That means, the Minnesota Vikings now have two 1st round draft picks next month, No. 11 and 23.

Here we go. The Vikings have acquired the Texans' No. 23 overall pick in the draft.

Minnesota Gets:
23rd
232nd

Houston Gets:
42nd
188th
2nd in 2025

— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) March 15, 2024

Will Kwesi use this additional 1st as currency to move up and take the Vikings’ QB of the future. That is obviously the expectation. But I’m sure he will tell you that he’s just trying to make this team better and he saw an opportunity to do that so he took it. Either way, this will light a fire under the fanbase and get them even more hyped up for April 25, no doubt.

A recent report by Tyler Dragon at USA Today has revealed the Minnesota Vikings as on of a handful of teams who are interested in newly-turned 27-year-old L’Jarius Sneed. Drafted by the Chiefs the same year as Justin Jefferson (2020), Sneed has already secured two Super Bowl victories and proved himself as one of the best CBs in football.

As expected, the Kansas City Chiefs officially placed the franchise tag on cornerback L’Jarius Sneed. Sneed still has permission to seek a trade despite the designation. A person with direct knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports that the Minnesota Vikings, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans, New England Patriots, Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars have expressed interest in the Chiefs corner. The person told USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Tyler Dragon – USA Today

Dragon notes in his report that Sneed is seen by NextGen Stats as one of the best zone cover cornerbacks in the league, allowing just four yards per target and ZERO touchdowns while playing zone last season.

Minnesota Vikings interested in Chiefs’ L’Jarius Sneed

Sneed played college football at Louisiana Tech and he’s coming into his own at the perfect time. His rookie contract is now expired and L’Jarius wants to cash in on a life-changing contract. But the franchise tag allows Kansas City more time to shop him on the trade market or find common ground on a long-term deal.

Not only that, but the franchise tag completely shifts negotiating power between Sneed and the Chiefs. Instead of impending free agency hanging over the team’s head, it’s a franchise tag hanging over the cornerback’s head.

Related: Mike Florio Reveals Julie and Kirk Cousins as His Sources; Triples Down on Recent Reporting

Playing for $20 million this season, the cost of a franchise tag at the cornerback position in 2024, isn’t so bad though. In other words, trading for Sneed would hit the Vikings twice. They’d have to come up with the trade chips to entice the Chiefs AND pay him when he gets here.

Sneed Would Boost Vikings Defense

Nonetheless, the Minnesota Vikings are in dire need of cornerback help, and L’Jarius Sneed would be a life-changing addition for Brian Flores and his defense. With Akayleb Evans and Byron Murphy Jr. currently holding top spots on the depth chart, Sneed would immediately step into a CB1 role, pushing those two down into a slot where they look a lot better. A high end addition like Sneed could be the quick fix to a Vikings secondary that looked like it was on life support entering the offseason.

Related: Local Insiders Suggest PFT’s Mike Florio is Being Played by Kirk Cousins and His Agent

During his 54 regular season appearances, Sneed has tallied 10 interceptions and 40 passes defended, often tasked with covering the opposing team’s top wide receiver. He was ranked sixth overall on NFL.com’s list of the top 101 free agents and was ranked the #1 CB available before being franchise tagged.

What an insane play by L’Jarius Sneedpic.twitter.com/9thQSH9Vpt

— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) January 28, 2024