Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson, arguably the best receiver in football and the reigning offensive player of the year, is eligible for a new contract.
So when will it happen? Before camp? By Week One? Coach Kevin O’Connell was asked that question during a Tuesday visit to #PFTPM.
“I don’t know if I’d put a timeline on it,” O’Connell said. “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. Justin knows, his representation knows exactly how we feel about him. 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.”
O’Connell praised Jefferson for his ability to pick up the offense so quickly.
“I mean, talk about a guy that was able to handle a lot,” O’Connell said. “It’s not like we came in here year one and said, ‘We’re going to run this, you know, minimal version of our offense.’ To truly maximize him in our offense, it required him to handle a lot, a lot, a lot of football. And he did it really seamlessly and prepared every single week mentally and physically to go out there and do the things that he did all season long. Just a spectacular season a year ago for him and like I said, just can’t wait to see what he’s able to do in year two in this offense.”
It’s hard to imagine Jefferson doing more in 2023 than he did in 2022. If he does, he could be a serious candidate to be the first receiver ever to be named the NFL’s MVP.