The Minnesota Vikings gave three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Justin Jefferson a record-setting four-year, $140 million contract extension. That put an end to one of the more note-worthy lingering situations in the NFL.
Before Jefferson, though, Stefon Diggs was the Vikings’ WR1.
The Vikings selected Diggs in the fifth-round pick of the 2015 draft. They traded him to the Buffalo Bills in 2020 for a package that included the pick used to select Jefferson.
Diggs questioned the Vikings’ intentions in that deal in his first public comments since the Bills traded him to the Houston Texans this offseason. The four-time Pro Bowler also suggested that he did not reach his full potential while wearing the purple and gold.
“[Bills QB Josh Allen] was a intricate piece in my career,” Diggs told reporters on June 4. “At that point, when I left Minnesota or whatever, I was – I presume it was like I was a good player. You know what I’m saying? But I always felt more for myself. I felt like I was better than that, that I could be better than that.
“I kinda up to that point, I was just like, s***, I’m gonna roll the dice and bet on myself, you know what I’m saying? And they [the Vikings] sent me to Buffalo. I don’t know if they sent me to Buffalo with the most kindest – with the most great intent. But alls well ends well.”
Diggs racked up four seasons with at least 90 receptions and two with 1,000-plus yards in his five seasons in Minnesota.
He also caught 30 touchdowns; better than all but three receivers in Vikings franchise history.
Jefferson will join that group this season, boasting 30 receiving touchdowns over his first four NFL seasons. His tenure is also re-writing the narrative around the Vikings and how their front office operates.
Justin Jefferson Contract Changing Narrative on Vikings
GettyJustin Jefferson #18 of the Minnesota Vikings.
“Former Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman said he had no intention of trading Percy Harvin in February 2013, only to deal him [to the Seattle Seahawks] a month later. The process repeated itself in 2020, only this time it was Spielman downplaying any chance of trading Stefon Diggs and then moving him to Buffalo,” Sporting News’ Judd Zulgad wrote on June 7.
“But despite the fear-mongering that went on as Justin Jefferson’s contract situation with the Vikings remained unsettled this spring, there was never a feeling that general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was going to move on from this Pro Bowl wide receiver. Yes, Adofo-Mensah said he had zero intention of moving Jefferson — often a red flag — but, in this case, the GM doubled down to the point of sounding as if he was working for Jefferson.”
Zulgad said Adofo-Mensah is not “your average GM” as evidenced by Jefferson’s contract.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane explained his logic behind trading Diggs this offseason. He noted the opportunity to plan for the future.
“I don’t need to go through all the reasons why we decided to go ahead and do that,” Beane said on “The Athletic Football Show” in May. “I would say from a cap standpoint, we decided just to go ahead and eat it now. And we can – we think we can compete and do what we need to do by eating it now.
“Because if we didn’t, if we tried to come up with some way and split it up too many different ways, then now it’s just like that Albatross you just hanging on your neck all year. You look at your cap and you’re going, ‘Oh, man. Look at how much money we still have dead.”
Diggs enters the season on a one-year, $22.5 million contract. The Texans re-worked his contract, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter in April, giving him a chance to hit free agency in 2025.
He was set to begin a four-year, $102 million contract he received in April 2022.
Former Vikings GM ‘Taken Aback’ by Stefon Diggs Trade
GettyStefon Diggs #1 of the Houston Texans.
The Bills dealt Diggs away after instances in which the former Viking expressed some displeasure with his situation. There was also an incident of Allen “snapping” at Diggs in the locker room, per The Athletic’s Tim Graham on the “Tim Graham And Friends” podcast in April.
Spielman said he was “taken aback” by Diggs getting traded on the “With The First Pick” podcast in April. He said Diggs is a “good player” with unquestionable “competitiveness.”
“We had no intention of trading Diggs at the combine,” Spielman said about trading Diggs, per Chris Tomasson for the Pioneer Press in April 2020. “He was a great player for us, he was great in the community. But then there was an opportunity, business opportunity that came up, that as this evolved we felt was both good for Stefon and was good for us, and we decided to go ahead and make the trade. But we’ll always appreciate what Stefon has done for us in Minnesota.”
Spielman declined to delve into any potential rift between the two sides.
Diggs is coming off his sixth consecutive 1,000-yard season. But this latest move will not dispel those notions about him. He is also 30 years old and could be seeking another payday. Spielman noted he is likely “motivated” to “prove a point” next season.
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