Amid the uncertainty around wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, the San Francisco 49ers could swing big for three-time All-Pro Justin Jefferson.
Similar to Aiyuk, Jefferson wants a bigger contract, and the Minnesota Vikings superstar wideout didn’t show up for the start of organized team activities. Andrew Hughes of USA Today’s Vikings Wire proposed a hypothetical trade package for the 49ers to acquire Jefferson and only lose veteran wideout Jauan Jennings in the process.
That means the 49ers could have an elite trio of Jefferson, Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel for at least 2024. Hughes wrote that the 49ers could send 2025 first and second-round draft picks, a 2026 second-round pick, and Jennings to the Vikings for Jennings.
While the 49ers just extended Jennings with a three-year, $15.39 million contract, San Francisco would save $3.43 million in cap space with a trade. Anything helps because Jefferson won’t come cheap amid his lofty contract demands.
Jefferson has a $19.74 million fifth-year extension with the Vikings this year, and he could command $32.5 million annually per Spotrac. San Francisco only has $7.23 million left in cap space, so it would take working around the salary cap — and likely roster cuts — to satisfy Jefferson’s contract wishes. Realistically, the 49ers would have the utmost difficulty making Hughes’ trade proposal come to fruition.
If the hypothetical trade idea did go through, Jefferson would land with a Super Bowl contender at age 24, and he would get to work with quarterback Brock Purdy before the 49ers have to pay big money for the starting signal caller. Jefferson would give Purdy and the 49ers offense an elite receiving threat in short yardage and vertical passing.
In four seasons, Jefferson has averaged 15 yards per reception amid 392 catches, 5,899 yards, and 30 touchdowns. Jefferson earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2022, made second team All-Pro in 2020 and 2021, and he earned Pro Bowl honors three times from 202o to 2022.
Justin Jefferson Would More Than Fill Possible Brandon Aiyuk Void
He would more than fill the void left by Aiyuk if the 49ers must trade away last season’s top receiver. Aiyuk has a fifth-year extension worth $14.12 million, but he could command $26.5 million annually per Spotrac.
It didn’t help the 49ers cause when the Miami Dolphins gave wide receiver Jaylen Waddle a year-extension of $84.75 million. That put Waddle in the top five among receivers for pay, and that’s the level of pay Aiyuk seeks. He said as much in the spring when he visited “The Night Cap” podcast with former NFL stars Chad Johnson and Shannon Sharpe.
“I’m trying to get what I deserve,” Aiyuk told Johnson and Sharpe. “I feel like this season, this season playing football, I figured out who I was as a person and a player — what I bring to the table, what I bring to the locker room, what I bring to the organization.”
Justin Jefferson’s New Deal Could Come Soon
The 49ers may have very little time to pursue Jefferson if the team chooses to. On June 1, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported on SportsCenter that the Vikings are “pretty motivated” to offer Jefferson a “market-altering deal” soon as transcribed by Nolan O’Hara of Sports Illustrated’s Inside the Vikings.
They want to try and get something done, they’ve been in active discussions with Jefferson and his representation,” Fowler said. “So this could not only be making him the highest-paid wide receiver, but the highest-paid non-quarterback, potentially.”
“Nick Bosa makes $34 million a year,” Fowler noted. “We’ll see if he can get to that threshold, but this should get done at some point in the coming weeks and months this summer, that’s the Vikings’ goal, so they’re pretty dedicated to doing it.”
