The Minnesota Vikings had a rough season as they transitioned from quarterback Sam Darnold to first-year starter J.J. McCarthy, and with that came the worst season of receiver Justin Jefferson’s career. However, that still meant a sixth straight 1,000-yard season for the four-time Pro Bowler.
With the way the Vikings’ season went, Jefferson’s name has begun to swirl around in trade speculations. But Jefferson made his feelings clear on that speculation on Friday.
What Did Justin Jefferson Say About His Trade Speculation?
The 2025 season was the first of Jefferson’s career in which he didn’t have stability at the quarterback position. Both Kirk Cousins and Darnold provided a stable, high-efficiency offense under coach Kevin O’Connell, which enabled Jefferson to perform among the best receivers in the NFL.
However, Jefferson admitted he knows not every season will be the best, and he’s not worried about the outside noise.
“I don’t really care about those things. Nobody really understands what’s going on in that building besides the people that in that building,” Jefferson said on USA Today’s “Sports Seriously” podcast. “Obviously, I understand the difficulty of the season. Not every season is going to be the top-tier season.”
The Vikings drafted Jefferson in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, and he’s had six straight 1,000-yard seasons since entering the league. In fact, he’s had more than 1,400 yards in four of those seasons.
However, he posted his lowest numbers of the season in 2025. Jefferson caught 84 passes for 1,048 yards and two touchdowns. Prior to 2025, the Vikings’ two-time All-Pro hadn’t caught fewer than 100 passes for fewer than 1,500 yards in any season when he’d played all 17 games.
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Jefferson had also caught at least five touchdowns in each of his first five years in the NFL, before this past season.
“It’s all God’s plan,” Jefferson said. “Really a wake-up moment. I got to get back to work, even though I don’t feel that the season was on me. Personally, I can do better. I don’t really care about what other people say. It’s just all about the people in that building with me, and all about my mental, and going out there and playing better.”
Last season was the first year under McCarthy at the helm, and even he didn’t play the full season due to injuries. However, in McCarthy’s final two starts of the year, Jefferson had six catches for 85 yards and eight catches for 101 yards.
The duo seemed to develop some rhythm near the end of the year, and now they have an entire offseason to work on their craft and connection.
