Vikings GM expresses importance of Justin Jefferson contract extension
Justin Jefferson has established himself as the face of the franchise for the Minnesota Vikings and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah knows it.
The executive spoke to the media Tuesday ahead of the NFL combine and expressed the urgency of signing the wide receiver to a contract extension.
"I don't want to be the Vikings' GM without that guy on our team," he said. "So it's a high priority. We got to make sure that we do it in the order that we can do it in, obviously given all our other decisions we have to make."
In the 2022 season, Jefferson earned the team records for most receptions and most receiving yards in a season. The marks were previously held by Hall of Famers Cris Carter and Randy Moss. He led the league with 128 receptions and 1,809 yards. He was a finalist for the MVP award and was named the league's Offensive Player of the Year.
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Adofo-Mensah said that what he values about the three-time Pro Bowler is not just his talent, but his intangibles and mentality.
"It's not just having an elite player. I think people, maybe they appreciate the talent, maybe they don't. The human, it's even better seeing it up close every day," he said. "He just wants to win. ... He's trying to put the Minnesota Vikings on his back. He wants to win a championship. When you have people like that in your building, you try everything you can to not let him out."
When asked at the end of the season about his desire to stay with the team that drafted him out of LSU, Jefferson said, "I will be wherever I'm wanted. If they want me here, I'm here. That's not something that I can really control."
Running back Dalvin Cook and quarterback Kirk Cousins also have their contracts in question this offseason. Adofo-Mensah reemphasized his earlier statement that Cousins brings tremendous value to the team.
"Having a good level quarterback is a necessary condition," he said on Tuesday. "(Our) quarterback meets that threshold, so we know that."