Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell says the team wants to keep star Justin Jefferson around for a “really long time.”
It will take a really large amount of money to make that happen, but O’Connell vowed Tuesday the team will get a deal done.
“I don’t know if I’d put a timeline on it,” O’Connell told reporters (via Pro Football Talk). “I just know that, you know, we very much are looking forward to having Justin play here for a really long time. He has significantly impacted our organization in so many positive ways on and off the field. I look forward to when we get that done and we can move forward knowing that Justin’s going to be here for the long term and we will get that done.”
The 23-year-old Jefferson is a generational talent at wide receiver. He hauled in 128 passes for 1,809 yards and eight touchdowns last season, with many of those catches highlight-reel material.
The Vikings recently picked up the option year of Jefferson’s rookie contract, meaning he’ll be with Minnesota at least through 2024. Beyond that, the Vikings will have to make a serious investment to keep him.
Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams reset the market for elite wide receivers last year with his five-year, $140 million contract. Jefferson will be worth at least that much, likely more.
“Justin knows, his representation knows exactly how we feel about him,” O’Connell said. “We’ll work through that process here over the rest of this spring on into summer and then if we can get something done nobody will be more excited about it than me and we’ll be looking forward to seeing what Justin does in year two in this offense.”