Minnesota Vikings

On Sunday, Aaron Rodgers told Justin Jefferson he was the "best player in the game today" after the Minnesota Vikings wideout torched the Green Bay Packers for nine catches, 184 receiving yards and two scores in his team's 23-7 win.

On Tuesday, he continued to praise Jefferson during his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show:

I said he was the best player on the field, and I meant it. I didn't say that tongue in cheek. I've been a fan of his since I watched him in college. He's a dynamic player who is an excellent route-runner. I'm sure as any good player should do and would do, he's probably watched the best at his position over the last couple years. And that would be probably Davante Adams, because a lot of his release stuff looks pretty similar to 17. And, you know, he was the difference-maker, I think, for the entire game.

Jefferson appreciated Rodgers' on-field compliment.

"It means a lot coming from him, just being the type of player that he is," Jefferson told Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. "He's one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game, so to hear that from him definitely is a little confidence-booster."

The 23-year-old has continued to ascend up the wideout rankings in his young career, becoming one of the most dynamic playmakers in the NFL. Even his divisional rivals have to acknowledge as much at this point.

Minnesota Vikings star Justin Jefferson will be rewriting the NFL record books at this rate.

The two-time Pro Bowler is single-handedly dismantling the Green Bay Packers defense, catching nine passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns Sunday.

We all know how good Jefferson is. Through his first two seasons, he had 3,016 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns. Still, the extent to which he bullied Green Bay's secondary was something to behold.

It's not too early for the Vikings to set aside the cap space that will be required to keep Jefferson beyond the 2024 season, assuming they trigger his fifth-year option that year. If somebody hasn't done it already, then the 23-year-old will be in a great position to surpass Tyreek Hill ($30 million) as the highest-paid wideout in the league.

Speaking with ESPN's Jeremy Fowler in August, one personnel director in the NFC compared Jefferson to Cincinnati Bengals star Ja'Marr Chase.

"Ja'Marr is faster and stronger and can do more with the ball in his hands," the team official said. "Jefferson is an elite route-runner and is relentless, but he's missing that elite physical trait that Chase has. You're not scared of him taking the top off your defense, even if he's going to get 11 for 150 on you."

Based on how well the team did in slowing Jefferson down, perhaps that personnel director worked for the Packers.

Za'Darius Smith has no love lost with the Green Bay Packers.

The two-time Pro Bowler says he felt the Packers abandoned him last season when he suffered a back injury.

"How I was [perceived] here in the building, I came down to here, to a nobody," Smith told NFL reporter Tyler Dunne. "To everybody in building. I was like, 'Damn, why am I being treated like this?' I brought the culture. I helped change this s--t. Why the f--k am I the one being treated like that?"

After Smith made back-to-back Pro Bowls in his first two years in Green Bay, a back injury limited him to one game last season. The Packers released Smith in March, and he chose to sign with the Minnesota Vikings over the Baltimore Ravens in part because he felt slighted by Green Bay.

"I put my all into it. That's why I felt the way I did with Green Bay—I gave that s--t my all. I put my blood, sweat … I put my back on the f--king line. I put everything. And that Year 3, I was treated bad. That's why I'm here now. So, I can play them twice a year."

Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur told reporters he did not feel the Packers treated Smith poorly, saying the team "may have a different perspective of how things transpired."

Smith won't have to wait long to get revenge on his former team, as the Vikings host the Packers on Sunday.

Jalen Reagor did not live up to expectations for the Philadelphia Eagles since they drafted him in the first round in 2020, but he now has the chance to turn his career around elsewhere.

The Eagles traded the receiver to the Minnesota Vikings on Wednesday, ending his tenure in Philadelphia after just two seasons. Philadelphia will receive a 2023 seventh-round pick and a conditional 2024 pick.

Jordan Schultz initially reported the trade.

Reagor became expendable for the Eagles in large part because of the team's revamped receiving corps. They have a deep crop of wideouts with A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Quez Watkins and Zach Pascal, all of whom were ahead of Reagor on the depth chart.

Through 27 career games, Reagor has notched 64 catches for 695 yards and three touchdowns. He also spent some time as Philadelphia's punt returner, totaling 321 yards and a touchdown on 35 returns across two seasons. However, in the Wild Card Round against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year, he muffed two punts and lost one of them in a 31-15 loss.

His NFL career got off to a rocky start when he suffered a shoulder injury that caused him to miss time during training camp in his rookie season. He was limited to 11 games that year after also suffering a torn ligament in his thumb.

The 23-year-old made a name for himself as a three-year starter for TCU. He was named 2017 Co-Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and earned All-Big 12 second-team honors in each of the subsequent two seasons.

Reagor has the chance to revitalize his career with the Vikings. He will need to develop chemistry with Kirk Cousins to prove he was worthy of his draft position.

He'll fight for opportunities on a team that will have Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen and likely K.J. Osborn ahead of him on the depth chart. But the Vikings didn't have great depth beyond that, making Reagor worth the gamble.

Ironically, Reagor was selected one pick ahead of Jefferson in the 2020 draft, a decision that has proved to be a major misstep from the Eagles. Now, the pair are teammates.

The Minnesota Vikings are reportedly "enthusiastic" about the potential of third-year wide receiver K.J. Osborn, which makes him an intriguing fantasy football target despite the presence of Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen.

Arif Hasan of The Athletic reported Tuesday the Vikes are "clearly committed" to using three receivers as part of their base offensive set, which he expects will translate to "a lot" of targets for Osborn.

The 25-year-old Michigan native enjoyed a solid 2021 season, recording 50 catches for 655 yards and seven touchdowns in 17 games. That came after he was limited to a special teams role as a rookie.

Those numbers put him on the fringe of the fantasy starter conversation, so even a modest uptick from his 82 targets last year would probably make him a safe flex play most weeks in 2022.

Whether there's actually a path to a larger role is up for debate, though. Jefferson and Thielen will combine to eat up a majority of the targets, and tight end Irv Smith Jr. is slated to return after missing all of last season with a knee injury.

On the flip side, Osborn is currently being drafted outside the top 60 wideouts in Yahoo Sports fantasy leagues, so there's minimal investment to take a flier on his continued improvement.

His ability to stay on the field in any situation is also a boost to his stock.

"I think I'm pretty powerful, so I can play inside and block the big guys," Osborn told reporters in early August. "But I can go deep and go get it. I've showed that a couple of times, so I want to continue to show it."

Ultimately, Osborn will have some lackluster statistical games when Jefferson, Thielen and Smith are all also on the field. There just aren't enough targets to produce three or four fantasy standouts from the same pass-catching corps every week.

He'll post strong enough numbers to warrant a roster spot, however, and he's one injury away from a prominent role in a dangerous passing attack.

That's enough to grab him as WR depth in one of the final rounds of fantasy drafts.

Justin Jefferson saw the wide receiver market skyrocket this offseason. He knows he's next.

But as he sits a season away from being eligible for a long-term contract extension, Jefferson is keeping his focus on team success.

“I love it,” Jefferson told Jeff Howe of The Athletic. “I love it that it’s coming now. All of the top receivers are getting paid this year. The future is very bright. Definitely, the market is getting higher. At this moment, I’m trying to focus on winning the Super Bowl. After the Super Bowl, we can definitely talk more about that.”

Jefferson's first two seasons are among the greatest starts to a career for a wideout in NFL history. The Minnesota Vikings star has earned a pair of Pro Bowl and All-Pro selections, racking up 196 receptions for 3,016 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Jefferson already ranks in the top 20 in Vikings history in receiving yards two years into his career. He's shattered franchise marks set by Randy Moss, a bonafide Mount Rushmore receiver, and enters the 2022 season with even higher expectations. Fantasy experts now place Jefferson as WR1 ahead of Cooper Kupp, whose 145 receptions and 1,947 receiving yards last season rank as the second highest totals in NFL history.

Barring injury or an unexpected drop in performance, Jefferson should eclipse the $30 million annual average given to Tyreek Hill by the Miami Dolphins in March. If he's able to not have those numbers ringing in the back of his head, he's a stronger-willed person than most of society.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins will miss the team's preseason opener against the Las Vegas Raiders after testing positive for COVID-19, coach Kevin O'Connell announced Friday.

Sean Mannion and Kellen Mond will handle the quarterbacking duties with Cousins out of the lineup.

O'Connell said he has not made a decision on whether Mannion or Mond will start. The first-year coach inherited all three quarterbacks on the depth chart from his predecessor, so it's likely the player who has looked best in camp will get the start. Reports out of training camp have indicated neither player has looked particularly strong thus far.

Mond was a third-round pick in 2021, and it would likely behoove the Vikings to get him as much playing time as possible. The Texas A&M product struggled for most of his preseason work a year ago and has been seen as a multi-year developmental project.

Cousins can return to the Vikings as soon as Tuesday. This is the second time Cousins has tested positive for COVID-19 in the last eight months. He previously missed a game against the Green Bay Packers last December due to the virus.

The 33-year-old has been open about the fact he refused to undergo COVID-19 vaccination. Vaccines remain safe and effective at preventing serious outcomes.

Los Angeles Rams star Cooper Kupp isn't accepting the notion that Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings is the best wide receiver in the NFL.

According to NFL.com's Grant Gordon, Jefferson was asked recently to name the league's top wideout, and while he mentioned Kupp, he ultimately went with himself, saying, "Coop is good, but I'll say he's behind me."

Not surprisingly, Kupp has countered with a take of his own, and it doesn't match Jefferson's, as he said, "I respect his opinion and I can also respectfully disagree."

Kupp praised Jefferson's confidence while also suggesting that he would give himself the nod when it comes to determining the NFL's best wide receiver:

"I would hope he would say that. I think that's the beauty of this game. I think it speaks to the competitiveness of this league. If you're not putting yourself as the best and you're not working to be the best, then I'd be concerned about stepping on the field with you if you don't feel like you've prepared to be the best player that you can be."

It is difficult to argue with Kupp's assessment given that he is coming off one of the greatest seasons by a wideout in NFL history.

He led the league in receptions (145), receiving yardage (1,947) and receiving touchdowns (16) en route to being named a Pro Bowler and first-team All-Pro for the first time, plus he won the Offensive Player of the Year award and finished third in MVP voting.

Additionally, Kupp was dominant during the Rams' playoff run, racking up 33 catches for 478 yards and six touchdowns in four games and winning the Super Bowl MVP award.

While Kupp was spectacular last season, Jefferson's career is off to a historic start, as his 3,016 receiving yards through his first two NFL campaigns are the most by any player in NFL history.

Last season, Jefferson finished with 108 receptions for 1,616 yards and 10 touchdowns, earning Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro nods.

Jefferson is perhaps the more dynamic player downfield, while Kupp is more versatile and able to burn defenders anywhere on the field.

The biggest difference between Kupp and Jefferson may be team success, as the Rams won the Super Bowl last season, while the Vikes haven't yet made the playoffs with Jefferson on the roster.

Regardless of how they should be ranked, all signs point toward Kupp (29 years old) and Jefferson (23) being two of the NFL's best wideouts for years to come.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins isn't particularly concerned that his general manager doesn't view him in the same class as Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes.

Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah told Jori Epstein of USA Today, "The one asset where you get nervous about not burning it down is quarterback" and suggested "we don't have Tom Brady" and "we don't have Pat[rick] Mahomes."

He acknowledged that a team "is more likely to win if you have that quarterback."

Yet Cousins told reporters Thursday, "I haven't given it much thought with training camp being so busy and consuming so much of my time," when asked about the comments. "I'm not too concerned about it."

In March, Cousins agreed to a one-year, $35 million fully guaranteed extension that keeps him in place through the 2023 campaign.

Adofo-Mensah's tone made it seem as if he was unsure about that decision, although the Michigan State product is coming off the third Pro Bowl season of his career. He completed 66.3 percent of his passes for 4,221 yards, 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Yet the team went just 8-8 in games he started and missed the playoffs.

It was emblematic of much of Cousins' career. He has consistently put up impressive numbers, with six seasons of more than 4,000 passing yards, but is still just 59-59-2 as a starter for Washington and Minnesota.

The Vikings have made the playoffs only once in his four seasons under center despite having playmakers such as Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen, Dalvin Cook and Justin Jefferson.

Minnesota is in something of a transition with a first-year GM in Adofo-Mensah and a first-year head coach in Kevin O'Connell, but they didn't overhaul the roster this offseason. Instead, it seems as though they are hoping that talent will shine through and perhaps Cousins will parlay some of those individual numbers into team success.

If he doesn't, it wouldn't be a surprise if Adofo-Mensah looked elsewhere at quarterback next offseason.

Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah indicated that he doesn't see quarterback Kirk Cousins as one of the top players at his position while speaking to USA Today's Jori Epstein.

"I'll be frank," he said on Friday while discussing the team's decision to roll with Cousins while several other high-profile quarterbacks were traded in blockbuster deals this offseason. "The one asset where you get nervous about not burning it down is quarterback."

Adofo-Mensah also called Cousins a "a good quarterback" but acknowledged that "we don't have Tom Brady, we don't have Pat(rick) Mahomes."

"(The Super Bowl) is more likely to win if you have that quarterback," he added. "It's very unlikely to have that quarterback."

On Tuesday, Adofo-Mensah told reporters that Cousins and the organization are "in a good place," however.

Cousins, 33, has always divided opinion to some degree. From a statistical standpoint, he's a very solid quarterback who threw for 4,221 yards, 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions last season while completing 66.3 percent of his passes.

That earned him his third Pro Bowl nod and was the third time in four years with the Vikings he threw for 4,000 or more yards and at least 30 touchdowns.

What that hasn't translated to, however, is consistent winning. The Vikings have gone just 33-29-1 with Cousins as the starter over the past four years, making the playoffs just once. While there are other factors to consider—roster-building, coaching, etc.—it's hard to ignore that Cousins has struggled to elevate the Vikings into a consistent playoff team.

He's paid like one of the top players at his position, however. In March, he signed a one-year, $35 million extension that will keep him under contract through the 2023 season and raised his 2022 earnings to $40 million. The $35 million average annual salary is tied for ninth among quarterbacks, per Spotrac.

That is another reason Cousins divides opinion—he's raked in the cash throughout his career, with Spotrac estimating those earnings at $161.6 million over 10 seasons. That's quite the outlay for a player who has gone 1-2 in the playoffs in his career.

So Adofo-Mensah is correct—Cousins isn't a Brady or Mahomes. How the Vikings obtain such a player, or attempt to, remains to be seen. Likewise, Cousins' future in Minnesota may not extend past 2023.