Did the Minnesota actually get themselves a superstar, wide receiver bargain?

In June, the Vikings made Jefferson the highest paid NFL player at his position with a four-year $140M deal.

Jefferson has dominated the NFL with the Vikings

Receiver contracts were signed across the summer – before and after Jefferson – not one bigger though, reflecting his status as a player who has reset the market.

With the Vikings back in London – where they are a perfect 3-0 – and defend their perfect 4-0 start to the 2024 season, Jefferson’s teammate, Harrison Phillips, believes they have bargain.

In an exclusive sitdown with talkSPORT, he says that in his eyes, the 25-year-old LSU graduate is still the “most under-paid player in the league.”

Jefferson’s introduction to life in the NFL supports Phillips’ claim with the offensive weapon matching – or besting – some of the all-time greats through the first four seasons of his professional career.

Jefferson has amassed a staggering 6,257 yards in 61 career starts, more than 100 yards per game, while earning Pro Bowl honors in each of his first three seasons in Minnesota. Last season, despite being plagued by injury, Jefferson still managed to top 1000 receiving yards in just 10 games.

This offseason saw the biggest change in Jefferson’s young career as quarterback Kirk Cousins departed for Atlanta, replaced by former New York Jet Sam Darnold.

Despite fears over the strength of this offense without Cousins, the Vikings are perfect, Darnold was selected as the NFC’s September Player of the Month and Jefferson has picked up where he left off with 358 yards and 4 touchdowns in 2024 – one of those a 97-yard house call against the San Francisco 49ers.

Phillips outlined what makes Jefferson such a dominant force.

“He’s just a competitor,” Phillips explained. “He has that switch that goes on on gameday and he’s just a different beast when the game comes on. 

“You hear about that with players who are absolutely elite and I haven’t been around a more impressive person, really in my life. It’s insane to see what he does out on those fields on Sundays, and I still think he’s like the most under-paid player in the league.”

Jefferson is the best-paid receiver in NFL historyGetty

Phillips says Justin is worth every dime

The Vikings will look to continue their hugely impressive start when they take on the Jets in London at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.

In a crowded NFC North that includes two of last season’s playoff teams – the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers – as well as a revamped Chicago Bears led by number one overall pick Caleb Williams, the Vikings weren’t expected to contend, let alone dominate this year. 

Yet, one month into the season, the Vikings find themselves 4-0, beating the Packers at Lambeau Field last weekend to keep their unbeaten start going.

“If anything it gives us a little bit of confidence but I think that most of the guys on our team have the same mindset, that we would prepare the same way if we were 4-0 or 0-4,” Phillips said of his team’s start to the 2024 campaign. 

“When your record indicates that you’re a solid team, you’re going to get the other team’s best shots. So we know now, as media and other people start to notice who the Minnesota Vikings are, teams are going be giving us their best shot, preparing a little extra when they play us, so we know that we have be prepared and put our best foot forward.

“I don’t know if i had an expectation for how much people were going to talk about us,” the 28-year-old added in regards to pre-season talk of the Vikings’ chances. 

“We knew what we were building since March, through free agency, through the draft, through OTAs, through training camp, I think a lot of us could have told you that we’re building something special here. 

“Unfortunately they don’t give out Super Bowls for the month of September so we have a lot of football left in front of us and we want to play our best football in December and January. 

“I like the idea that people weren’t talking about us and I wish people weren’t talking about us still, I wish we still were those underdogs. We have a roster that’s full of players with chips on their shoulders so that underdog mentally is a good one to keep.”

One of the primary reasons for the Vikings’ stunning start to the season has been the impressive work of Phillips and his teammates and the defensive side of the ball. 

The Vikings have given up just 14.8 points per game, 4th-fewest in the NFL this season, a statistic that looks even more impressive considering the quality of the offenses they’ve faced: the Packers, Texans, 49ers (and Giants).

Phillips credits much of that success to defensive coordinator Brian Flores, another member of this team who is acting with a chip on his shoulder following an underwhelming two-and-a-half years in his lone spell as a head coach with the Miami Dolphins.

“He’s very consistent,” Phillips said of Flores. “He also emphasises the joy of the game of football, that we’re still playing the GAME of football. And he holds us to a very high standard, we want to chase a perfect game. 

Sam Darnold has dazzled for the Vikings this season

“We’ll probably never get one but that’s what we’re chasing, perfection. Another saying he says is ‘you don’t have to play great, but you have to play damn good’. So we’ve all got to play damn good football and it’s an unselfish group. I think Flo’s a great leader and he’s done great with the group.

“It’s a really cool defence where we have a lot of talent. And it’s a chess match out there, every quarter, every play. So I think having that veteran leadership on the defence is extremely important as we get to checks and different audibles at the line. I feel like some teams who don’t have that veteran maturity don’t get that. 

“But just as talented as we are physically, you have to be mentally to hold three or four calls in one play. Coach Flores has a staple saying that he doesn’t know where the big plays are going to come from, it’s going to be a different guy every week based on our game-plan.”

The Vikings last started a season with five straight victories in 2016 but on that occasion under Mike Zimmer, they collapsed to lose eight of their last 11 and end the regular season 8-8. 

The Jets, meanwhile, have flashed inconsistency to rival the Vikings’ consistent excellence this season, winning two of four games, most recently failing to score a touchdown in a 10-9 defeat to the Denver Broncos.

Aaron Rodgers and his team will be looking to get back on track in North London on Sunday by becoming the first team to beat the Vikings this season. Full coverage can be found…

The NFL returns to London this weekend and talkSPORT 2 will bring you all three London games over the next three weeks, starting on Sunday as we have exclusive commentary from 1.30pm of the New York Jets taking on the Minnesota Vikings