![Vikings Pass]()
How poetic is this? While Brandon Aiyuk's representation battled the San Francisco 49ers tooth and nail all offseason for a massive new contract, the Niners were working on contingency plans in case they couldn't keep him. That presumably would've included trading him to Minnesota as part of a package for Vikings superstar Justin Jefferson.
Adam Schefter reported on Sunday morning that San Francisco did indeed inquire about Jefferson's availability, along with the Colts and Jets. The Vikings basically laughed in their faces and said hell naw, brah.
https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1835263625608491347
Cut to mere hours later, and the Vikings are positioned to pull off one of the biggest upsets in Week 2 thanks to Sam Darnold's pinpoint throw to Jefferson, who did the rest with two helpless 49ers defenders chasing him en route to a 97-yard touchdown.
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1835376103617077588
Jefferson is the freakazoid of all freakazoids. If the multiverse is real, countless fan bases have to be wondering what could've been if they'd selected JJ in the 2020 NFL Draft. Somehow, Minnesota lucked out and landed Jefferson with the 22nd overall pick. Just one selection before that, lauded Eagles GM Howie Roseman took TCU wideout Jalen Reagor.
The 2020 draft class was an extraordinary one, as Roseman redeemed himself by selecting Super Bowl starting quarterback Jalen Hurts in Round 2, and every single top QB pick has turned out to be pretty damn great. Although
Tua Tagovailoa's concussion issues have derailed his career to some degree, you can't fault the other teams who drafted the likes of Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, and Jordan Love.
But like...think about the teams who drafted a wide receiver before the Vikings did. The Raiders took Henry Ruggs II. Let's not even get into how he turned out. Denver nabbed Jerry Jeudy. He's been so terrible that
Steve Smith Sr. called him out live on air, imploring teams not to trade for him. Guess who did? The Cleveland Browns.
Because of course they did. The Browns could've drafted Jefferson. They opted for a first-round bust of a left tackle in Jedrick Willis instead. Oof.
Love to see Jefferson continuing to play with that chip on his shoulder amid a historically great start to his career, in spite of the revolving door of QBs the Vikings have gone through. That 97-yard TD might be his best highlight yet.
