Friday’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
Minnesota Vikings
New York Giants
New York Jets
Vikings extension rumors still center around one of their 2020 first-round picks, but the final first-rounder from Rick Spielman‘s GM tenure is also now eligible for a big-ticket deal. Although Justin Jefferson is not yet signed, the Vikings have also begun talks with their 2021 first-round pick.
Christian Darrisaw has become one of the NFL’s better tackles, and he is now under contract through 2025 by virtue of Minnesota making the predictable call to exercise his fifth-year option. Although the Vikings have some time with Darrisaw, ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert notes the team has begun extension discussions with its fourth-year left tackle.
GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah‘s draft choices are not yet extension-eligible, but his predecessor left the team with two cornerstones. Jefferson looks to be angling for the NFL’s top non-quarterback contract, which could take the wide receiver market to or beyond $35MM per year. Darrisaw will likely be aiming at a top-market LT accord. The former No. 23 overall pick has been Minnesota’s LT starter since Week 6 of his rookie season.
No Pro Bowls appear on Darrisaw’s resume, but he has received quality reviews. ESPN’s run block win rate metric ranked the Virginia Tech product sixth in 2022; Pro Football Focus slotted him second among all tackles that season. PFF graded Darrisaw as the NFL’s eighth-best tackle last season. Set to turn 25 on Sunday, Darrisaw should be coming into his prime.
The Vikings are shifting their expenses around this offseason, having separated from Kirk Cousins after six years. But a $28.5MM dead money bill is still due this year because of the void years the team placed on its longtime QB1’s contract. Minnesota, however, will be clear of that charge by 2025, when the team will be building around J.J. McCarthy‘s rookie deal. With the No. 10 overall pick tied to a rookie contract through at least 2026, the Vikings have some opportunities to load up their roster around the Michigan prospect. The Vikings also have just one O-lineman (right tackle Brian O’Neill) signed to an upper-crust contract.
While Jefferson is tied to a fifth-year option for this season, the Vikings picking up Darrisaw’s option ($16MM) covers the 2025 campaign. Minnesota has some time with its blindside blocker, and Seifert adds nothing is viewed as imminent. Since the 2011 CBA brought the fifth-year option, the Vikings have never gone through with an extension for a first-rounder with two years of control remaining. Darrisaw is currently tied to a $2.48MM base salary.
Laremy Tunsil‘s $25MM-per-year deal leads left tackles, but the Lions gave Penei Sewell $28MM per year to introduce a new tier for the RT market. How the Buccaneers proceed with Tristan Wirfs will be pivotal as well. While the Vikings may not be keen on matching where the Bucs go for Wirfs, as the former Super Bowl starter is a two-time All-Pro, that extension moving the market would pertain to Minnesota’s Darrisaw talks. For now, the fourth-year lineman is clearly in the NFC North club’s long-term plans.
A couple of draft pick signings to pass along:
Minnesota Vikings
Tennessee Titans
Gray earned first-team All-ACC honors in both 2022 and 2023, collecting 266 totals tackles at North Carolina over that span. Despite being selected in the fourth round, Gray was still only the seventh linebacker off the board, with scouts lauding the former UNC captain’s defensive savviness. The linebacker’s four-year rookie contract is worth $4.85MM, including $834K in guaranteed money (per Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston).vWith the signing, the Titans only have one unsigned draft pick: second-round defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat (Texas).
Jackson joins the Vikings following a productive lone season at Oregon. After transferring from Alabama, the defensive back had his best collegiate season, finishing with 34 tackles, three interceptions, and a pair of sacks for the Ducks. With this signing, Minnesota only has two unsigned rookies: first-round QB J.J. McCarthy and first-round edge rusher Dallas Turner.
Atlanta will receive plenty of attention this summer as both Kirk Cousins and first-round rookie Michael Penix Jr. take part in their first training camp with the team. The latter is slated for backup duties in 2024, but the former faces questions about his rehab from the Achilles tear which ended his Vikings tenure. 
Cousins was enjoying a productive campaign until the injury, one which did not hinder his earning power in free agency. The 35-year-old secured $100MM guaranteed from the Falcons to serve as the team’s starter for at least the short-term future. Cousins was initially taken aback by the Penix selection (eighth overall), although he has since turned his attention back to his ongoing recovery.
Head coach Raheem Morris recently indicated the four-time Pro Bowler’s Achilles is not yet fully healed at this point. Cousins is nevertheless taking part in Atlanta’s offseason workouts as he continues to make progress. His latest comments on the matter represent a further sign he will be back to 100% in time for the start of the regular season.
“I’m good to go,” Cousins said during an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show (video link). “I’ve told people for a while that if the Super Bowl were today, I’m playing. And that goes back probably – I think when I first got here, I was working out and we got maybe a week or two into my rehab and I did some drills where I said, ‘Hey, if the Super Bowl were today, I’m playing.’ And they seemed to agree.”
Cousins still has plenty of time to continue rehabbing, and the team will no doubt take a cautious approach during the summer if he suffers any setback. It seems unlikely that will be the case, though, so the most compelling storyline for the offseason (and likely beyond) will presumably be Penx’s development along the sidelines and how Cousins performs knowing his projected successor is in the organization.
The Vikings lost quarterback Kirk Cousins this offseason, but much of their pass-catching corps remains intact. Wideouts Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison are on the books, as is tight end T.J. Hockenson. 
[RELATED: Justin Jefferson Seeking NFL’s Largest Non-QB Deal?]
Among Minnesota’s free agent losses was receiver K.J. Osborn, though. He proved to be a consistent secondary option in the team’s passing game from 2021-23, amassing 15 touchdowns during that span. The former fifth-rounder signed a one-year deal with the Patriots in March, leaving the Vikings in need of a new WR3.
The team signed Trent Sherfield to a modest deal, giving the journeyman an opportunity to carve out a role. Sherfield’s best season came in 2022 with the Dolphins (30-417-2), and he has started only 10 of 95 games in his career. Minnesota has other options to operate as a third receiver, such as Brandon Powell, N’Keal Harry and Jalen Nailor.
No member of that group has a track record of success as a starter, though, which has led to questions regarding the Vikings’ depth plans at receiver. On that point, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert writes Minnesota does not appear to be interested in making a free agent move. Jefferson and Addison are positioned to once again command a large target share in 2024, and Hockenson proved to be an effective pickup during his first full Vikings season until it was cut short by a major knee injury.
Several veteran wideouts are still on the market. The likes of Michael Thomas, Mecole Hardman and Hunter Renfrow remain unsigned, and none of them will likely be expensive additions at this point in the offseason. With roughly $16.5MM in cap space, the Vikings can afford to make an addition at the position, particularly if it is one aimed at providing experienced depth in head coach Kevin O’Connell‘s three-receiver scheme. At this point, however, it may come as a surprise if the team prioritized a signing.
This offseason has brought changes to the wide receiver market, but a host of wideouts chosen early in the 2020 draft have taken center stage. Most NFL teams have authorized a big-ticket (by today’s standards) deal for a wide receiver. Ranked by guaranteed money and excluding rookie contracts and accords acquired via trade, here is the most lucrative WR deal in each franchise’s history.
Larry Fitzgerald‘s seven-year, $113MM extension (August 2011) holds the Cardinals standard for total value, but Hopkins’ pact checks in higher in terms of guarantees and AAV.
In total, Michael Crabtree‘s 2018 deal (worth $21MM) and Derrick Mason‘s 2005 agreement ($20MM) surpass Beckham’s. But the 2023 Baltimore rental’s guarantee came in higher.
The Browns have featured three higher-paid receivers on their roster since Landry’s contract, but both Odell Beckham Jr. and Amari Cooper arrived via trade and played on contracts designed by other teams. Jerry Jeudy‘s AAV ($17.5MM) on his 2024 extension also outpaces Landry’s, though the recent trade pickup’s total guarantee falls short here.
Courtland Sutton‘s 2021 extension carries a higher AAV ($15MM) but included $18.85MM guaranteed.
DeAndre Hopkins‘ 2017 re-up included more in total value but a lower AAV and guarantee
Tyreek Hill‘s 2022 extension tops his teammate for AAV ($30MM) but came in just south for guarantees ($72.2MM)
JuJu Smith-Schuster‘s 2023 deal trails Agholor’s in AAV but carried the same full guarantee. Danny Amendola‘s full payout ($28.5MM) in 2013 tops both deals.
Allen Lazard‘s 2023 deal and Santonio Holmes‘ contract back in 2011 brought more in total value ($44MM and $45MM, respectively) but did not match Davis’ for guarantees.
Antonio Brown‘s four-year, $68MM extension in 2017 also included a $19MM guarantee at signing but trailed Johnson’s in terms of total guarantees.
Chris Godwin‘s 2022 deal beats Evans’ for at-signing guarantees ($40MM), while the all-time Bucs receiving leader’s 2024 agreement leads the way in AAV ($20.5MM).
Justin Jefferson is one of several high-profile players currently absent from OTAs in the NFL. Missing out on voluntary workouts, the 2023 Offensive Player of the Year is in talks with the Vikings on a monster extension. 
Jefferson is a strong candidate to become the league’s top earner at the receiver position. Given his age (24) and the historic start to his career, however, that may not be the bar he is aiming for. Outkick’s Armando Salguero reports Jefferson is “expecting” to surpass Nick Bosa as the league’s highest-paid non-quarterback.
Bosa’s 49ers deal, signed last offseason, carries an AAV of $34MM. That figure comfortably moved him to the top of the pecking order amongst defenders (although Chris Jones is now not far behind) and it surpassed the top of the receiver market at the time. Tyreek Hill‘s $30MM-per-season Dolphins contract has been eclipsed recently by new deals for Amon-Ra St. Brown (Lions) and A.J. Brown (Eagles).
The latter pact is worth an average of $32MM per season, and it therefore represents the new target for Jefferson and other extension-eligible wideouts. Salguero notes Jefferson has already turned down one offer which would have allowed him to top the receiver market, but that was before Brown’s deal was signed. Talks with the Vikings nearly produced an agreement last offseason, but instead the LSU alum remains on track for free agency next year as things stand. Jefferson is set to earn $19.74MM in 2024 on his fifth-year option.
A multi-year pact will check in at a much larger rate, although particular figures regarding AAV are not known at this point in negotiations. Salguero adds the three-time Pro Bowler was previously seeking $40MM annually, but that may no longer be the case. That figure matches the AAV of the contracts quarterbacks Daniel Jones, Matthew Stafford and Dak Prescott are presently attached to.
With respect to guaranteed compensation, Salguero reports Jefferson is aiming for roughly $100MM on his next deal. Only eight contracts in the league are at that mark in terms of total guarantees; all of them, unsurprisingly, belong to quarterbacks. It will be interesting to see if Jefferson manages to reach (or at least approach) his asking price in terms of total and guaranteed money.
Minnesota has a cost-effective quarterback room with Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy positioned to replace Kirk Cousins in the short and long term. The team’s skill position group features one expensive pact (tight end T.J. Hockenson), but wideout Jordan Addison will be attached to his rookie contract for at least the next three years. An expensive new deal for left tackle Christian Darrisaw will likely be on the Vikings’ books down the road, but it will pale in comparison to the one Jefferson will have if talks can produce a market-topping agreement.
CeeDee Lamb has elected to stay away from the Cowboys in the absence of a long-term extension being worked out. The same remains true in the case of Justin Jefferson, another wideout looking to approach or reach the top of his position’s market. 
Jefferson is absent from the Vikings as their organized team activities begin, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. The 2022 Offensive Player of the Year also skipped out on the beginning of Minnesota’s offseason program last month, so today’s update does not represent a surprise. Jefferson’s decision comes as extension talks are ongoing.
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said earlier this offseason that the sides came close to an agreement last year. Negotiations were ultimately put on hold, though, and they briefly resumed resumed after the close of the 2023 campaign. With attention turning to the draft, the team temporarily pressed pause for a time, but the focus is once again on hammering out a lucrative pact.
Jefferson had the most productive three-year start to a career in NFL history, giving him a strong case to sign the league’s most valuable receiver pact. The 24-year-old was limited to 10 games in 2024 due to a hamstring injury, though he still managed to post a 68-1,074-5 statline. Kirk Cousins is no longer Minnesota’s quarterback, with Sam Darnold in place as a bridge option and first-rounder J.J. McCarthy positioned to take over as a starter down the road.
Both of those signal-callers carry plenty of question marks relative to Cousins, but Jefferson will still be counted on to produce among the league’s top playmakers moving forward. The three-time Pro Bowler is due $19.74MM in 2024 as he is set to play out his fifth-year option. A franchise tag could be an option for the following year, but a multi-year investment at a much larger rate remains a matter of mutual interest.
Tyreek Hill‘s $30MM-per-year Dolphins pact has been surpassed as the top receiver deal in terms of annual compensation. Both Amon-Ra St. Brown (Lions) and A.J. Brown (Eagles) have eclipsed that figure on mega-pacts of their own, with the latter’s checking in at $32MM per season with $51MM fully guaranteed at signing. Jefferson, along with Lamb and Bengals standout Ja’Marr Chase, is in line to parlay his production into a similar contract. It will be interesting to see if traction is gained between he and the Vikings in the near future.
After watching left tackle Braxton Jones miss six games last season, the Bears utilized a third-round pick to add some quality depth to the roster in Yale offensive tackle Kiran Amegadjie. That quality depth will have to wait, though, as Amegadjie is still reportedly making his way back from a season-ending injury he suffered in college, according to Courtney Cronin of ESPN.
Amegadjie suffered a partially torn quad in his final season at Yale that limited him to only four games last year after he underwent surgery. The team claims that doctors had medically cleared Amegadjie, but he has yet to practice in Chicago and will likely be sidelined for the at least the remainder of the spring. Head coach Matt Eberflus said that the plan is for the rookie to be ready by training camp.
Here are a few other rumors from around the NFC North:
Robert Tonyan‘s trip around the NFC North will continue in 2024. The veteran tight end has a deal in place with the Vikings, ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Jeremy Fowler report. The deal is now official, per a team announcement. Minnesota has waived undrafted linebacker Donovan Manuel in a corresponding move.
Tonyan – who entered the NFL as a Lions UDFA – played for the Packers from 2018-22. During that span, he eclipsed 50 receptions on two occasions, scoring 11 touchdowns in 2020. The 30-year-old was an offensive mainstay for Green Bay during his final three Packers campaigns in particular.
Last offseason, Tonyan made another intra-divisional move by signing a one-year Bears pact. He played all 17 games in Chicago, but his offensive role was dwarfed by his special teams workload. The Indiana State product made only 11 scoreless receptions in 2023, and it comes as no surprise he found himself on the open market well after the draft.
Chicago also had ex-Packer Marcedes Lewis in the fold last year, but he too has not been re-signed. The Bears instead turned their attention to Gerald Everett, who joined in free agency on a two-year, $12MM deal. The 29-year-old will join Cole Kmet (who received a lucrative extension last summer) as a key member of the Bears’ very different looking offense this season.
Minnesota also has an established top tight end. Upon arrival via trade from the Lions, T.J. Hockenson has proven to be an effective producer when healthy. His first full Vikings campaign came to an abrupt end due to ACL and MCL tears, though, and he continues to rehab in the hopes of being available to start the 2024 season. Especially if Hockenson misses time, Tonyan could step into a first-team role. The latter has 24 starts to his name.
At a minimum, Tonyan should be able to carve out a rotational spot in Minnesota. The team retained Johnny Mundt as well as Nick Muse, but they did not add a rookie via the draft. As the Vikings transition to Sam Darnold enter center, a pass-catching corps headlined by Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison will now have Tonyan in the mix.