One of the questions that the Minnesota Vikings are going to have to come up with an answer for relatively soon is what to do with wide receiver Jordan Addison. They’ve already picked up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract, which would appear to be the precursor to a long-term extension with the purple, and such an extension just continues to get more and more expensive.
On Tuesday morning, the Baltimore Ravens announced that they had signed wide receiver Zay Flowers to a four-year, $140
million contract extension with $108 million in guaranteed money. Those terms are nearly identical to the extension that Justin Jefferson signed two years ago. Jefferson’s extension was also a four-year, $140 million pact with $110 million guaranteed. So, Zay Flowers is, officially, making “Justin Jefferson money.”
Flowers and Addison went with back-to-back picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, with the Ravens taking Flowers at #22 overall and the Vikings selecting Addison at #23. Thus far in their careers, Flowers has the edge in receptions (237 to 175) and receiving yardage (3,128 to 2,396, with Flowers going over the 1,000-yard mark twice), while Addison has found the end zone more times than Flowers has (22 touchdowns to 14).
Of course, Addison has had to compete with Jefferson for catches, which causes his numbers to take a bit of a hit. Flowers has led the Ravens in receptions in each of his three NFL seasons, while Addison has been the clear #2 wide receiver in the Minnesota offense. Them’s the breaks, I guess.
Still, given this contract extension, its tough to imagine a contract extension for Addison coming in below this sort of level. That means the Vikings could, potentially, be paying two wide receivers “Justin Jefferson money,” with one of those receivers being the Justin Jefferson, who is still, arguably, the best wide receiver in football.
I know that the Vikings still employ Rob Brzezinski, who is still one of the premiere cap guys in the business. Still, this could prove to be one of the first tests of Nolan Teasley’s priorities as GM of the Vikings. Handling this contract situation with Jordan Addison could prove to be tricky, and it will be interesting to see how the new front office handles it and, just as importantly, when they handle it. After all, I don’t think Addison is going to get any cheaper if the team puts it off or anything.
