It's time to stop wondering if Justin Jefferson is upset with the Vikings' quarterback decisions

One of the most overhyped storylines/ideas of the offseason is the one that features a world in which the Minnesota Vikings trade star receiver Justin Jefferson.

A big reason why people continue to drum it up is because of the Vikings' past and current quarterback situation. Jefferson had a ton of success with Kirk Cousins behind center, obviously, so the popular thought was he'd be upset if the Vikings didn't bring Cousins back.

Then, things really ramped up when the Vikings signed journeyman quarterback, Sam Darnold, to a one-year, $10 million deal. That came after he played just 69 snaps and made $4.5 million with the San Francisco 49ers in 2023. 

Justin Jefferson has to be pissed, right? I mean, Sam Darnold, at $10 million?!?!

No, he's not. It's time to stop wondering that and Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell mentioned why on Monday when appeared on NFL Network's The Insiders.

"I know Justin is excited for some of the things we were able to add to our team in free agency," said O'Connell. "In the quarterback position, he's always going to play a role in that, because the skill sets that we're looking for will be guys that can feature who we believe to be the best receiver in football, which Justin is. So how we do that, how we build our offense - Justin is always involved with those conversations and will continue to be so."

It's clear the Vikings are doing whatever they can to make sure Jefferson is happy and successful. That includes paying him, too. I mean think about it - the team passed up paying Cousins $40-$45 million a year and right now, they have nearly $18 million in salary cap room, after accounting for the cost of the draft class. They could use that to extend Jefferson, and, if they can't work out a deal before 2025 rolls around - they'll have more than $102 million to work with, next year. 

People will continue to talk, but it won't mean anything, nor result in anything. The Vikings have a plan for Jefferson and said plan certainly involves him staying in purple and gold for the foreseeable future - which is 2024 and beyond.