Congratulation: Justin Jefferson Becomes Highest-Paid NFL Player At $67 Million Per Year After Agreeing To….

The Minnesota Viking are looking to bounce back in 2024 after a disappointing 7-10 season saw them miss out on the playoffs. The loss of quarterback Kirk Cousins to an achilles injury in week 8 was a major factor for their poor season but perhaps a bigger loss was three-time Pro Bowl receiver Justin Jefferson, who missed seven regular season games with a hamstring injury.

Jefferson is fit and healthy for the upcoming season but the Vikings are still trying to work out a long-term deal for the former LSU star. Jefferson has been one of the most dominant receivers in the NFL since being drafted in the first round by Minnesota in 2020. He is currently about to begin the fifth year of a rookie contract and is looking for a lucrative new deal that will likely making him one of the highest paid receivers in the league.

Vikings will be keen to lock up their star receiver before the season beings and head coach Kevin O’Connell seems confident that will be the case.

“I know everything’s going to get worked out there,” said O’Connell to Kay Adams on the Up and Adams. “Very few people are able to do the things that he’s able to do, but it’s how he goes about his business, how he works, how he pushes his teammates to get better. Justin Jefferson is a huge part of this organization.”

Hey Coach Kevin O’Connell, how many times a day do you check to see if Justin Jefferson has signed his extension paperwork??

O’Connell joked that he is regularly asking the team’s GM when the new contract is going to be finalized.

Jefferson finished the 2023 season with 1074 receiving yards and five touchdowns over 10 games. He has had four consecutive 1000 yard seasons and led the NFL in total receiving yards and receptions in 2022 with 1809 receiving yards on 128 catches.

The demand for top-tier wide receivers has led to an increase in contract sizes and Jefferson will likely end up of the league’s highest-paid receivers when his contract is completed.

With the release of the 2024 NFL schedule, we now know that the Minnesota Vikings’ first matchup against the Detroit Lions will be in Week 7 at U.S. Bank Stadium. Will tight end T.J. Hockenson be back on the field for it?

If he has anything to say about it, he will be.

Hockenson is featured in a story on NFL dot com this morning, and though he says there’s still no timeline for his return, he seems to be very happy with the progress that he’s making in his return from injury.

“They haven’t really put a timeline on it,” Hockenson said of his recovery from tearing his ACL and MCL in a Week 16 loss to the Detroit Lions. “We’re just kinda taking it day by day, week by week, there’s just so many variables that you can go through in this process. I’m doing really good right now. We’re attacking each process. I’m attacking each one and it’s been awesome, the progression has been incredible.”

Hockenson suffered the injury on a low hit from Lions’ safety Kerby Joseph, as Joseph lacks the ability to actually tackle opposing ball carriers. His surgery was delayed until mid-January, allowing the MCL to heal on its own before the ACL was surgically repaired.

The Vikings will almost certainly place Hockenson on the Physically Unable to Perform List at the start of Training Camp. If he remains on that list after the final cuts, he will have to miss the first four games of the regular season, at a minimum. That could still put him on track to be back for the first game against the Lions, which follows the team’s Week 5 trip to the United Kingdom and their Week 6 bye.

What do you think, folks? Will T.J. Hockenson be back when the Vikings and Lions face off for the first time in 2024?