Winter Warrior Uniforms and the Extension of Justin Jefferson’s Contract
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Since the previous publication of last week’s Mailbag, Justin Jefferson reached an agreement to remain with the Vikings through 2028, and he and teammates helped launch the Winter Warrior uniforms that will be accented by the first use of a white helmet in franchise history.
Jefferson released the video announcing his agreement to a contract extension last Monday. Hopefully that announcement soothed folks who had been emailing me about what was taking so long.
O’Connell on Jefferson’s Deal, Working With Darnold and McCarthy, Offensive Line Depth and More
Throughout the process, General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Head Coach Kevin O’Connell and Owner/President Mark Wilf consistently said they intended for Jefferson to be a Viking for years to come. No matter what rumors circulated — and there were some wild ones perpetuated — they remained calm as they worked on a solution that led to Jefferson becoming the highest-paid non-QB in the NFL. It’s an incredible accomplishment for a player once viewed as an “undersized kid” not big enough for college football.
The Vikings launched the Winter Warrior uniforms with a flurry of social media activity. Creation of alt uniforms — and that spiffy new helmet — is a long process. It was exciting to see the work that colleagues had put in come to fruition and be received with such positivity.
O’Connell flipped the schedule for the team’s mandatory minicamp this year, moving the three-day event to last week instead of making it the final week of the offseason workout program. Rookies and select veterans will have one more round of voluntary Organized Team Activity practices this week. After that, they won’t be on the field together again until 2024 Vikings Training Camp.
That means we’re closer to announcing details of camp, so please keep an eye out for those.
Lastly, thanks to folks for sending in questions for the Daunte Culpepper edition of MMM. Folks have until noon (CT) today, June 10, to send in any more questions. I’ll relay them when he’s in town for the Minnesota Vikings Foundation Golf Tournament, and we’ll publish that edition on June 24.
Justin Jefferson Joins Dan Barreiro To Talk New Contract, His Drama-Free Approach, Team’s QB Situation and More
I read that the Vikings may still be looking for a WR (even RB or DB) now that [Jefferson] is signed and there is cap space available. I read there is $27.49 million of cap space. I think K.J. Osborn is good enough to be the No. 3 WR, so why did they give him up? Then, I think of Adam [Thielen] and how he would be a still great fit on the team too. Either K.J. or Adam would make me happy to be on the team. [Hunter Renfrow is still available — he’s good.]
Can you explain how/why all that happened?
Teams are always looking for who is or might be available.
Minnesota was able to add tight end Robert Tonyan after an impressive workout last month, and he quickly impressed in practices.
I’ll always want personally great things for Osborn and Thielen. Osborn wound up signing with New England, and Thielen remains with Carolina.
Projected cap money (for the next several seasons) has changed quite a bit this offseason with the departures of Kirk Cousins and Danielle Hunter in free agency, as well as signings the Vikings have made.
Minnesota will assess how things unfolded during the offseason program at all positions, evaluating if players are where they were projected to be. Jordan Addison had an incredible spring, and Jefferson is Jefferson, so people should be excited about that tandem.
We do know that Brandon Powell made multiple plays in an expanded role without Jefferson last season, and coaches have spoken well of Jalen Nailor, although he was not able to participate in last week’s minicamp because of an illness.
This catch by Trent Sherfield, Sr., of an absolute dart from J.J. McCarthy raised eyebrows last Thursday for multiple reasons.
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We’ll see more action from younger players this week as they wrap OTAs and give themselves the best foundation for competing during training camp.
I wish that the Owners would quit messing with the uniforms. Please go back to the original helmets with the bigger horn. Those were cool uniforms! I think they had an effect on the opposing teams. Pay homage to the great teams from the late ’60s to the ’70s.
Well, I guess you can’t please everyone, but this is the only email I received that was critical of the new uniforms. I’m including it because of the difference in perspective from my opinion and most of the reactions I’ve seen on social media.
Current players, including Jefferson, like the white-on-white uniform look that was introduced at home in 2022 for the first Winter Whiteout game (against the Giants). The organization wanted to gauge the response from fans.
Using feedback from the multitudes that I also agreed with, the organization then went through the two-year process of creating the alternate helmet. This post and graphic highlight fans’ requests for the white helmet.
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You asked (a lot).
NFL rules have extended in recent years to allow teams to create up to two alternate uniforms that can each be worn up to two times in a regular season.
In 2021, the NFL approved an adjustment to allow usage of a second helmet, beginning in 2022. This spring, rules were expanded again to allow a third helmet.
The Vikings Classic was launched in summer 2023 and debuted in Week 1. Minnesota donned the look again against the Bears on Monday Night Football last season.
Those uniforms were designed with a deeper purple on the jersey, traditional block numbers and sans serif letters to pay homage to the “Decade of Dominance” teams. Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton even helped roll them out last year.
Covering that launch, connecting those uniforms to past players and getting to interview Tarkenton last year when the Vikings visited the Falcons were among my favorite highlights of 2023. Part of the interview was included in this feature last year.
Vikings Unveil ‘Winter Warrior’ Alternate Uniforms and Helmet
Had the Vikings done more than switch up the face mask (changed to gray for when wearing The Classic), then the NFL could have determined that to be an alt helmet, which may have prevented the white helmet from happening (under the previous rules that limited teams to one alt helmet).
An interesting note is teams are not allowed to go beyond their franchise color palettes when they create alternative uniforms. Because gray had been used on the facemasks worn by the likes of Tarkenton, Carl Eller, Alan Page, Paul Krause and Jim Marshall, as well as revived for the helmets that accompany The Classic, it was an option for inclusion on the Winter Warrior look, which Lindsey Young detailed here.
The Vikings plan to implement the Winter Warrior look when hosting the Bears this season, a contest currently scheduled for Dec. 16 on Monday Night Football.
Unfortunately, Minnesota went 0-2 last season in The Classic. The team will try to rectify that mark in future usages to more effectively pay homage to that era.