EAGAN — Do tin foil hats come in purple?
Over the past few weeks, Minnesota Vikings tight end TJ Hockenson has been participating in individual drills and then sitting out 11-on-11s. Eight days ago the Pro Bowl tight end said that he developed an ear infection early in camp that affected his equilibrium.
When he talked to the media after Monday’s walk-through practice, he only provided one update: That he will be playing once the season rolls around. In fact, he provided that update repeatedly with no other details about his limited practices. Here are all of his quotes:
— “It sucks but it is what it is. It’s just making me want to be out there with the guys. I’ll be out there in September, that’s when I need to be.”
— “I’m upstairs getting all the reps mentally and that doesn’t affect me at all. Just trying to stay in shape and get ready for September.”
— “It’s gotten better. We’re just taking it slow and getting me ready for the season and ready for Sundays.”
— “I’ll be ready by then [the start of the season] for sure. That’s the goal, that’s what will be.”
On whether he planned to practice this week with the Arizona Cardinals in town, he said, “I don’t know, we’ll take it day by day.”
Not that Hockenson is required to provide a full breakdown of his ear infection but it could be construed as odd for the veteran tight end to reveal that his ear issue was holding him back and then not practice fully and then talk definitively about the start of the year with no further update.
That’s where theories about his contract start to crop up. Is he sitting out of full-team reps because of his contract situation?
“I don’t really know,” he said when asked if his contract played into the matter. “I keep that between [my agent] and the guys upstairs, so that’s not really my focus. It’ll play out. It’s not really what I’m focused on.”
Hockenson is playing this season on his fifth-year option, which means he will become a free agent after 2023 unless he’s franchise tagged. Recent tight end contracts like Jacksonville’s Evan Engram and Philly’s Dallas Goedert have laid the groundwork for a potential deal that ranges somewhere around $14-$16 million per year with $25-$35 million full guaranteed.
It wouldn’t be that unusual for a player to avoid the most dangerous parts of camp while they are working through a negotiation. In 2020, Dalvin Cook barely took the field for full-speed reps and inked a long-term contract right before the season began. Currently Nick Bosa isn’t practicing as he and the 49ers get to the nitty gritty of his incoming massive extension. Playing it safe makes sense. Nobody wants a freak injury to happen right before an extension is signed.
The other school of thought is that Hockenson could be sending a message. With holdouts off the table in the new CBA, limiting participation is the only firepower players have to get their message across. We saw this earlier in camp with Danielle Hunter did not take any part in practice but showed up to TCO Performance Center. When he re-worked his deal, he got back to work.
Maybe Hockenson wants to get back after it and is being held back by the medical staff. He did say that “it sucks” not to be out there fully participating. He was doing full work early in camp and during OTAs and minicamp, after all.
It feels uncomfortable to speculate about someone’s ear infection but that’s where we’re at because Hockenson has not yet signed a long-term contract and the comments about his inactivity have been mysterious. Coming into training camp, his status was among the biggest question marks on the entire team. In the past the Vikings have routinely announced extensions early in camp but the later in training camp it gets, the more we will be wondering if it’s going to happen.
Last season Hockenson was a terrific fit right out of the gate. He shined in his first action after being acquired for a second-round pick from the Detroit Lions and never looked back with 60 receptions in 10 regular season games and 10 more grabs in the playoff game against the New York Giants. He was a versatile player, lining up in the slot 34% of the time and outside as a wide receiver on 15% of plays, per PFF.
But just because Hockenson met all expectations doesn’t necessarily mean the Vikings want to meet his price. The team has the franchise tag in their back pocket, which is a very affordable option. This year the tight end tag number was just $11.3 million.
Avoiding the franchise tag does give the Vikings more flexibility in the structure of the deal. Engram, for example, has a $5 million cap hit this year and just $7 million next year.
It is possible that they do not value him as much as the top-of-market tight ends. Last year he ranked 13th overall by PFF grade, in 2021 he was 14th and 10th in 2020. It’s also within reason to wonder if the Vikings signed Josh Oliver as a hedge on Hockenson’s future.
This offseason the Vikings have drawn hard lines with veteran players, which led to the exits of players like Adam Thielen and Za’Darius Smith. Knowing that they have the tag in their back pocket, the team could decide to only make a deal on their terms.
Is that being penny wise, pound foolish, though? The Vikings presently have one of the best groups of weapons in the NFL with Hockenson as a key part of that. At 26 years old it stands to reason that he could be a central figure for many years to come, including when the Vikings go hunting for their next quarterback. Supporting casts are vital for QBs and nothing is more predictive of success than the efficiency of the passing game.
So Hockenson’s status remains up in the air for the long term, even if he insists that it’s not in question for Week 1. Whether either of those things will change is yet to be seen. Contracts have been historically hard to see coming — look no further than when reports Danielle Hunter was on the trade block were followed the next day by a new deal. Maybe it’s closer than we think with the former first-round tight end. But if the Vikings do not find a way to lock him into a new deal, it will leave him twisting in the wind on whether his future is in Minnesota or potentially elsewhere.
