Month: June 2024

There were rumors during the draft that the Minnesota Vikings might take a receiver on the first round and trade John Jefferson.

The Vikings denied that and it never made any sense to let a player of his talent get away.

And they proved they were going to keep him by giving him the best non-quarterback contract ever – a four-year, $140 million deal at $35 million a year.

That will not only reset the wide receiver market but the market for all non-quarterback players. Tyreek Hill is now the fourth-highest paid receiver at $30 million and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, was quick to notice it is a new market now.

It also changes the narrative that in this passing era teams don’t need high-paid wide receivers. The Chiefs traded Hill and won two Super Bowls without him. Now more receivers are likely to aim for more than $30 million.

It will also make it easier for the players to accept an 18-game schedule. Even though it will not be good for them physically, it will mean more money in their pockets.

There are likely to be a lot of ramifications caused by the Jefferson contract. We can only wait to see how it plays out. 

The siren call of getting a head coaching often lures assistant coaches into taking bad jobs and getting fired a few years later.

Ben Johnson isn’t one of those coaches.

Johnson has been a hot commodity on the coaching market after his success as the Lions’ offensive coordinator. He was courted by the Panthers a year ago and was a candidate for both the Washington and Seattle jobs at the end of the last season.

He decided to remain to remain in Detroit to see, in his words, if he can “reap the rewards a little bit longer” in Detroit.

 “I like the sunshine,” he said at a recent press conference according to NFL.com. “I like what we’ve built here, starting with ownership. the head coach, the GM on down.” 

“Something that really resonates with me is, OK, eight openings this past year. What would you set the over-under (at) in three years?  I’d put the over under at. 4.5 I would say. I would say there is a good chance that five of them will be out of jobs three years from now.”

Now we will see how this plays out. Will he go on to win a Super Bowl ring in Detroit and get to pick his job? Or will the Lions falter and he will no longer be a hot candidate?

Will he have any regrets or will it turn out he made the right decision? He will find out in the next couple of years. 

Meanwhile, you have to admire him for making a mature decision.