The trade-rumor mongers and aggregators lose while sanity wins in Minnesota as the Vikings and Justin Jefferson agreed to a mega-deal to keep the All-Pro wideout in the fold. Jefferson was given the unique type of deal his play on the field has earned since he arrived in the NFL.
When a player of Jefferson’s caliber is discovered, the only logical step is to reward him and secure his place on the team for as long as possible. This decision sparks a fascinating discussion on the escalating value of wide receivers in the NFL, particularly considering the significant contracts they are now commanding, even though seemingly every year, we get a strong crop of new wideouts from the NFL Draft.
But the reality is that while there is a wealth of quality wide receivers entering the league annually, it remains rare that you get a transformative difference-maker who is elite at every part of playing the position and wins at X-receiver but can do it from any alignment. That’s who Justin Jefferson is and that’s why this contract was a no-brainer.
You may be able to recreate his production in the aggregate but you can cobble together the impact wideouts like this have on their offense. The word transformative is the correct distinction. The conversation gets a bit more interesting the further down you go the league rankings but players like CeeDee Lamb and Brandon Aiyuk, who are next in line for extensions, have arguments — based on their film — that they share some of those same descriptors we just assigned to Jefferson.
The bottom line is that you need at least three good receivers to be a dangerous offense in today’s game. That’s why teams are hesitant to let guys even a tier or two down from Jefferson walk out the door.
The concept that this deal brings to the forefront of my mind is one I’ve often discussed: “The QB Wilderness.” It’s a term that refers to the situation where great wideouts, no matter how talented, can’t excel without a quality quarterback….
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Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-06-03 19:31:03
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