The Vikings front office has a lot of irons still in the fire when it comes to contract negotiations with their star players heading into this year’s training camp.
The biggest question was whether Danielle Hunter would report. He did, but won’t participate in practices right away.
So, what of the status of quarterback Kirk Cousins, star receiver Justin Jefferson and tight end T.J. Hockenson heading into camp?
Here’s what General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said about the status of each of those three players in his press conference Tuesday.
Kirk Cousins
“We’ve had great conversations with Kirk and his representatives.” Adofo-Mensah said. “Ultimately, when you sit across the table from somebody, you try and understand their perspective and make sure they understand yours. That’s how our conversations were. It was never a type of thing where it was combative or ‘yes or no.’ It was right now we can’t come to a solution that fits both of our perspectives. We always knew that we were going to keep coming back to conversing about where we see these things and ultimately try and find a decision that works for both parties.”
Justin Jefferson
“Ongoing dialogue. I believe we’ll speak with his representatives again soon,” said Adofo-Mensah. “We just got back to training camp so there’s no rush, in that regards. When we got here there was certain types of players you want around. Players who love football, are great at football, make their teammates better and just have that winning spirit. I’ll never forget when I first met him, he just talked about winning. And that’s what you want around. So, when you identify players like that you try and find solutions to keep them around. We will do that as best we can as we go forward.”
T.J. Hockenson
“Great dialogue with his agent. We spoke recently as well,” said Kwesi. “I actually called T.J. in when he got here. Again, another person that fits what we want as a Vikings long term and we’re going to try and find a solution to that as well.”
