The Minnesota Vikings at least contemplated the possibility of trading Justin Jefferson, according to Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
According to his report, "There was buzz at draft time that the Vikings wanted to move from No. 11 to No. 5, not to pick a quarterback but to get LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers, who was picked No. 6 by the Giants. Had that trade occurred, Jefferson would have been traded and Nabers would have been the No. 1 receiver."
Instead, the New York Giants selected Nabers at No. 6 overall, the Vikings traded up one spot to No. 10 and selected Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who will fight for a starting spot with Sam Darnold this upcoming season.
It would have been a true shocker if the Vikings traded Jefferson. The 24-year-old is already a three-time Pro Bowler, one-time first-team All-Pro and arguably the best receiver in football, having recorded four straight 1,000-yard seasons.
Nabers may very well end up being a superstar, but Jefferson is still young and has proven himself at this level. To paraphrase an old cliché, a superstar wide receiver on the roster is worth two in the draft.
But there is some additional context to why the Vikings would have potentially entertained moving on from Jefferson.
The star wideout is entering the final year of his rookie contract and is set to earn $19.7 million on his fifth-year option. He'll then become a free agent, though the Vikings reserve the right to use the franchise tag on him.
But the ideal outcome is for the two sides to agree on a contract extension. Such a deal would undoubtedly reset the market at receiver and exceed the three-year, $96 million extension A.J. Brown signed with the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason.
It won't come cheap, and until it gets done there's a very real possibility that Jefferson will remain away from the team. He didn't report for the team's organized team activities this past week, an indication that he could potentially skip training camp later in the summer as well if an extension doesn't get done.
Kay Adams @heykayadamsHey Coach Kevin O'Connell, how many times a day do you check to see if Justin Jefferson has signed his extension paperwork?? 😂 <a href="">@JJettas2</a> <a href="">@Vikings</a> <a href="">#skol</a> <br><br> <a href="">
It's a potential distraction the Vikings perhaps considered avoiding altogether, and with a loaded wideout draft, this would have been the year to change course at the position.
But doing so would have taken them out of the quarterback equation, outside of pulling off another costly trade in the first round. And given Jefferson's age, he's not exactly on a dramatically different timeline from McCarthy.
In the end, keeping him and ponying up the cash made the most sense. Now, it just remains to be seen how much that extension will cost the Vikings.
