The Vikings say they never “discussed” trading Justin Jefferson, but does that tell the whole story?

The team that brought us the phrase “We have no intention of trading Percy Harvin” (and they did) brought us another clear and unambiguous statement regarding the key receiver: “We never discussed trading Justin Jefferson.”

Now that the Vikings have signed Jefferson to a long-term deal, they have every interest in playing the “nothing to see here” card when it comes to the possibility that the Vikings might have moved on further, if they were blown away by an offer for Jefferson and/or if They can replace him.

As the Vikings recently explained There was no urgency To get a deal done before the draft. This is circumstantial evidence regarding the likely, if not likely, fact that the Vikings were waiting to see if they would be impressed with a Herschel Walker-type offer.

This is a fact we mentioned previously BFT Live Which she reported unequivocally on the Thursday morning programme. Pre-draft, Jefferson’s camp believed the Vikings were “playing games” with their most important player.

So, yeah, while the Vikings have no interest in giving those previous prospects any credence, it’s fair to think they were waiting to see if someone spontaneously made an offer and didn’t turn it down.

Then there’s the fact that more than a few people said the Vikings were trying to trade from No. 11 to No. 5 to draft LSU receiver Malik Nabors. A lot of people heard that it was something someone pulled out of thin air and/or their ass. Although Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell got the ball rolling earlier this week regarding the question of whether the Vikings are shopping Jefferson, no one is asking about Nabors’ rumors and reports.

If the Vikings had gotten Nabors, who knows what that would have meant for Jefferson? The Vikings might have been content to move forward with Jefferson in the fifth year of his contract, Jordan Addison on an entry-level deal, and Nabers for roughly $30 million over four years. Or perhaps they would have continued to wait for offers to come in, without technically discussing a potential trade for Jefferson.

minimum? There is a lot of smoke to ignore in this matter. High-achieving writers have plenty of reasons, driven by both access and a desire not to appear like they’re outdone, to chant the slogan “There’s nothing to see here.”

Some might say that great writers know a particular team better than anyone else. While this may be true in many circumstances, there is a real difference between what writers can and will write and what they know but can’t say.

Certainly some people who cover the Vikings have heard about the frustrations from Jefferson’s standpoint and/or about potential efforts to acquire Nappers. More importantly, it wasn’t great for the team’s coverage company to constantly bang the drum about things the team would rather no one mention.