The Minnesota Vikings and wide receiver Justin Jefferson agreed Monday to a four-year extension, the richest contract in NFL history for a non-quarterback.
Jefferson will get $110 million guaranteed in the deal that’s worth as much as $140 million, with more than $88 million due at signing.
“We ain’t stopping here,” Jefferson posted on Instagram along with a video of highlights and thank-you’s in honor of the contract. “There’s more to be done.”
Jefferson, who has the most receiving yards in league history through a player’s first four seasons, had entered the final year of his rookie deal. The two sides came “unbelievably close” to an extension last summer, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said earlier this spring.
Jefferson missed seven games last season with a hamstring injury and still reached 1,074 receiving yards. The 2022 AP NFL Offensive Player of the year was the 22nd overall pick in the 2020 draft out of LSU.
“Justin has consistently proven to be one of the best players in the NFL on and off the field and we are excited about having him as a cornerstone of our team for a long time to come,” Adofo-Mensah said in a statement distributed by the Vikings. “He is the living embodiment of our culture with his joyful dedication to process and our goals.”
Jefferson’s annual average of $35 million per year on the new deal passed San Francisco defensive end Nick Bosa ($34 million), whose contract extension before last season was negotiated by the same agency, William Morris Endeavor, that represents Jefferson.
cowboys great allen dies at 52 >> Larry Allen, one of the most dominant offensive linemen in the NFL during a 12-year career spent mostly with the Dallas Cowboys, has died. He was 52.
Allen died suddenly on Sunday while on vacation with his family in Mexico, the Cowboys said.
A six-time All-Pro who was inducted into the Pro Football of Hall of Fame in 2013, Allen said few words but let his blocking do the talking. The former Sonoma State lineman drafted in the second round by the Cowboys in 1994 — the year before the last of the franchise’s five Super Bowl titles — Allen once bench-pressed 700 pounds while dumbfounded teammates watched, then mobbed him.
Allen was born in Los Angeles, grew up in Compton and played football at Centennial High.
49ers sign TE thomas >> San Francisco has agreed to a contract with free agent tight end Logan Thomas, giving the 49ers a proven backup to All-Pro George Kittle, a person familiar with the deal said. The Niners had been seeking help for Kittle all offseason after getting only four catches from their other tight ends last season and 20 in the last three seasons combined.
panthers, city of charlotte seek stadium deal >> The Carolina Panthers and the City of Charlotte have proposed a partnership deal that would include an $800 million renovation to Bank of America Stadium and keep the NFL team here for 20 years. The renovation would include a fixed $650 million investment from the city and another $150 million from Panthers owner David Tepper. Tepper has already invested more than $117 million in the stadium prior to June and would also pay another $421 million in potential overages for capital improvements over the term of the deal, the team said Monday in a news release.
The city’s investment does not require any new or increased taxes.
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