We know wide receiver Justin Jefferson is unhappy with what's going on with the Minnesota Vikings this season.
While Jefferson has said all the right things to fight off the idea he's disgruntled, the look on his face during games as the Vikings continue to lose says otherwise.
Jefferson's frustration stems from the horrid quarterback play the Vikings have gotten this season, especially out of second-year signal-caller J.J. McCarthy.
The former first-round pick has been one of the worst signal-callers in the NFL and that has obviously hurt Jefferson's production while also sinking Minnesota's campaign one season after the team won 14 games.
Because he is clearly not happy, many have wondered if Jefferson might request a trade out of Minnesota in the offseason.
While he doesn't think that will happen, ESPN's Adam Schefter isn't ruling it out, either, and mostly because we have seen shocking trades before, like the one that involved the Dallas Cowboys sending Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers.
“It’s hard to imagine that they would trade Justin Jefferson, but then again, a year ago, I would have said it’s hard to imagine the Dallas Cowboys would have traded Micah Parsons, and they did," Schefter said.
While the Vikings will have no motivation to trade Jefferson given the fact that he's still only 26 and an elite player, Jefferson has all the motivation in the world to request a trade.
One way the Vikings can prevent that is to bring in a competent veteran in 2026 who, at the very least, can compete with McCarthy for the starting job.
The Athletic's Alec Lewis believes that is pretty much a lock to happen given what we've seen out of McCarthy this season.
"At this point, though, it’s doubtful that even the most optimistic outcome of the five-game sample will sway the Vikings from shopping in that all-too-familiar aisle," he wrote. "With O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah entering their fifth season without a playoff win, and with superstar receiver Justin Jefferson’s frustrations increasing, the Vikings are going to need insurance at quarterback — someone to compete with McCarthy, at the bare minimum."
But the Vikings can't bring in some stiff who is just there to compete and won't win the job. They need someone who is likely to beat out McCarthy while also providing an upgrade at the position.
If they are successful in doing so, that will keep Jefferson happy and prevent him from demanding out of Minnesota.
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