At the top of the Minnesota Vikings’ wide receiver depth chart is Justin Jefferson, who many fans are surprised hasn’t had a nuclear meltdown as J.J. McCarthy has struggled this season. Right beside him is Jordan Addison, an elite talent whose off-the-field concerns are making the team think twice about giving him a second contract. Even Tai Felton is part of the discussion these days, because many wonder why the Vikings haven’t gotten much out of their third-round pick.
But even though there are plenty of things to talk about, Jalen Nailor‘s future is a storyline that has slipped under the radar. Nailor grabbed a pair of touchdown passes in Sunday’s win over the Dallas Cowboys, and his free-agent status is one of many questions the team needs to answer this offseason.
While Jefferson and Addison are the flashier headlines, Nailor remains a big decision, and it began with a contract year that has mostly gone according to plan.
Nailor’s year began in the offseason when he transformed his body, adding strength and muscle to his frame. While his season began with the “best shape of his life” narrative, things took a sharp turn when he suffered a hand injury late in training camp.
The Vikings were already without Jefferson, who had a hamstring injury at the beginning of camp, and Addison, who was serving a three-game suspension for a 2024 DUI arrest. Felton looked a year away from being a year away, and the Vikings didn’t have many legitimate candidates to fill the No. 2 role if Nailor wasn’t ready for the season opener against the Chicago Bears.
The Vikings reacted by trading for Adam Thielen, but Nailor countered by getting a second opinion on his hand. Instead of needing a longer timeframe, Nailor underwent a shorter procedure that allowed him to play on opening night, and he held off Thielen for the rest of the season with his on-field performance.
Nailor has 26 catches for 395 yards and four touchdowns this season, but he has an opportunity to set career highs across the board in the final three games after catching 28 passes for 414 yards and six touchdowns a year ago. Those numbers won’t win many fantasy football leagues, but they could be enough to get him paid. Spotrac lists him with a market value of $5 million per season as he approaches free agency.
It may not take a massive deal for Nailor, who turns 27 in March, to stay in Minnesota. But it could also be complicated given Minnesota’s cap situation and what they may have to do with Addison.
Addison has already gotten off to one of the best starts in franchise history among players in the first three years of his career. He ranks fifth among receivers and sixth overall with 172 receptions, seventh with 2,362 yards. He’s also tied with Anthony Carter for fourth with 22 receiving touchdowns in his first three seasons. But, as fans know, a lack of talent isn’t Addison’s problem.
A speeding ticket down I-94 proved to be an auspicious start to Addison’s career, and things got more dangerous when he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge after being charged with DUI in Los Angeles in July 2024. To his credit, Addison has stayed out of trouble for the most part until the Vikings benched him for the first quarter in a Week 5 win over the Cleveland Browns after missing a team walkthrough in London. However, another issue is the cost of keeping him in Minnesota.
With two years of team control, there’s no estimation of what Addison could get on the open market. But we can at least read the tea leaves thanks to other contracts to so-called No. 2 receivers in the league. Jameson Williams’ three-year, $83 million contract may serve as a starting point for negotiations after he agreed to a deal with the Detroit Lions this past summer. Still, Addison could also push for a four-year, $115 million contract, similar to the one Tee Higgins received from the Cincinnati Bengals.
That didn’t appear to be an issue as the Vikings were breaking in McCarthy, who is on a rookie contract through the 2027 season and has a fifth-year option for 2028. But McCarthy’s first two years of the deal have provided minimal value. Therefore, it’s possible that Addison’s contract would come at the same time as a possible extension or as the Vikings are bringing in a high-priced alternative to move forward at quarterback.
The Vikings also need to figure out Jefferson’s future. While he’s playing under the first year of a four-year, $140 million contract extension this season, his cap hit spikes from $15.1 to $38.9 million according to Over The Cap. The Vikings will likely look to reduce that number to address their suddenly bloated cap situation, but that just kicks the can down the road and eventually sets him up for another payday in 2027 or 2028.
With the cost of bringing Addison back and the off-the-field problems, the Vikings could look at Nailor as a cost-effective No. 2 option moving forward. However, there are legitimate concerns that come with doing that.
Along with the middle-tier production, Nailor has a checkered injury history. That could deflate his value going into his next contract, but it also creates a buyer-beware situation, as it did with K.J. Osborn going into his free agency in 2023. Osborn signed with the New England Patriots on a one-year, $4 million contract, but they released him midway through the season, and he has since bounced around with the Washington Commanders and Atlanta Falcons.
Without a single 500-yard season to his name, Nailor could be in the same situation. The Vikings could be comfortable giving Felton a bigger role, although he hasn’t shown he is ready based on his rookie performance.
In an offseason where they’ll have plenty of important decisions, Nailor is going unnoticed and could have a ripple effect over the next three games and into his free agency.