Minnesota Vikings star wide receiver Justin Jefferson is committed to joining his team's training camp in July. During Tuesday's practice with the Vikings, Jefferson allayed fears of him missing the training camp next month amid his desire to secure a contract extension.
“Will I be here?” Jefferson said. “Oh yeah. Yeah,” Justin Jefferson told reporters, per Kevin Seifert of ESPN.
Jefferson still has a couple more years left in his current deal. He is set to earn a base salary of $2.399 million in 2023 and $19.743 million in 2024. He definitely feels he warrants a massive contract extension with the Vikings as the former LSU Tigers star has done nothing but impress on the field for Minnesota ever since he arrived in the league in 2020.
Justin Jefferson, who missed the voluntary offseason program of the Vikings, is coming off another astounding season in the NFL. In 2022, he posted a career-high 1,809 receiving yards on 128 catches and 184 targets. He also had 24 rushing yards and a touchdown on four carries, while playing in all 18 games. He is a durable wideout with extremely elite skills downfield. With Jefferson punishing opposing secondaries, the Vikings were able to rank fourth in the NFL in 2022 with 264.2 passing yards per game and eighth with 24.9 points per contest.
The 24-year-old Justin Jefferson remains confident that he and the Vikings will come up with a deal soon.
“[Negotiations] happen every single year,” Jefferson shared. “It's not something that's new towards the game. Eventually, we knew we were going to have to talk contract.”