Justin Jefferson’s $35 million yearly Vikings salary is going break every NFL pay scale but the QB spot

Every few years, there is a non-quarterback deal that feels like it’s destined to change some part of the NFL’s salary landscape.

Ndamukong Suh’s 2015 contract with the Miami Dolphins put a defensive tackle on the threshold of earning a then-staggering $20 million per season. In 2018, Kirk Cousins reimagined the quarterback scale, locking in $28 million a year. In 2022 it was a bonanza: the Dolphins made Tyreek Hill the first $30 million per year wideout in NFL history, the Los Angeles Rams awarded defensive tackle Aaron Donald a $31.6 million per year extension — placing elite defensive linemen back into stratosphere — and Aaron Rodgers pierced the $50 million per season mark with the Green Bay Packers.

All of these deals either shook the ground or punched through a ceiling. On Monday, Minnesota Vikings wideout Justin Jefferson did both, signing a four-year, $140 million extension that makes him the highest paid non-quarterback in the NFL at $35 million per season.

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Make no mistake, this was a wide receiver signing for quarterback money. It’s a deal that, when it’s overlaid with current starting QB contracts, puts Jefferson smack-dab in the middle of the pack: slotted just behind Aaron Rodgers’ $37.5 million with the New York Jets, and just in front of the newly minted $33.3 million average salary the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are paying Baker Mayfield. It also matches the $35 million the Vikings paid Kirk Cousins in 2023.

So while Minnesota’s previous starting quarterback might have left for the Atlanta Falcons, his salary didn’t. Now the Vikings will enter 2024 with a quarterback salary on the roster … but paid to the team’s No. 1 receiver.

The Minnesota Vikings are paying wide receiver Justin Jefferson a quarterback-level salary, and that has big implications for other wideout looking for new contracts. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)

That’s meaningful in Minnesota as the Vikings are seizing on…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/justin-jeffersons-35-million-yearly-vikings-salary-is-going-break-every-nfl-pay-scale-but-the-qb-spot-042823593.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-06-04 04:28:23

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