The Vikings settled one of their lingering contract situations Thursday by agreeing to an extension with tight end T.J. Hockenson through 2027.
Hockenson was scheduled to be a free agent after the season, and the Vikings had talked with his agent about an extension for much of training camp. His deal added four years to his contract with the Vikings, and is worth up to $68.5 million. The maximum value of the contract averages $17.125 million a year, making Hockenson the league's highest-paid tight end over the Giants' Darren Waller, who is playing on a deal worth $17 million per year.
"I do think there's a sense with all these negotiations where you say, 'Hey, I think we're kind of in the ninth inning of this thing,'" General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said. "I can't tell you exactly when that moment happens. But I know I told [coach] Kevin [O'Connell] and [Executive Vice President of Football Operations] Rob [Brzezinski], 'I think we can get something done.' And you get that big smile from the head coach."
Hockenson played 10 games with the Vikings in 2022 after the team acquired him from the Lions on Nov. 1, and caught 60 passes in that time, emerging as quarterback Kirk Cousins' No. 2 target through the second half of the season.
The Chariton, Iowa native, who played for the University of Iowa, now figures to spend the rest of his prime just four and a half hours from where he grew up.
"You don't necessarily know how it's going to finish," Hockenson said of the negotiations. "It's obviously a stressful process. I mean, it wasn't really my focus the whole time. I knew I wanted to be here, and we just had to figure out how to make that happen. It's very, very special for me, being from Iowa, to be here: by your own family, to be able to really buy into the city and understand I'm here for a long time."
As the contract neared completion, Hockenson got more work in practice this week than he had in nearly a month. He sat out all seven-on-seven, 11-on-11 and contact drills after Aug. 3, first citing an ear infection and then back stiffness while contract negotiations continued. But he maintained he would be ready for Week 1.
"These three weeks of practice, I've just been trying to watch tape, get mentally prepared and get ready for that game [against the Buccaneers]," he said. "Now, to be back in a huddle, see everybody and just hear the calls come in, just makes me more excited about the season."
O'Connell said Thursday morning that Hockenson was nearly a full participant in the Vikings' Wednesday practice, and would be so again on Thursday. He sounded optimistic the team would have Hockenson available for the regular-season opener on Sept. 10.
"We're thrilled to know we've got T.J. here as a major part of our core on offense," O'Connell said. "When we got him here, our hopes were that we were acquiring a player that would become a major part of our offense going forward. We've been able to build T.J.'s role here, really have a great process throughout the offseason of what it's going to look like within our offensive system for a major player like T.J. to be a part of it. Just knowing our young core, our quarterback, where he's at coming out of training camp, I'm very excited about our offensive side."
The Vikings announced Hockenson's deal at the start of Adofo-Mensah's and O'Connell's news conference Thursday morning to discuss their initial 53-man roster, which continued to change Wednesday after the NFL's final cut deadline on Tuesday. The team placed running back Kene Nwangwu on injured reserve Wednesday with what O'Connell called a low back injury; the Vikings added former Dolphins running back Myles Gaskin to help provide depth at the position behind Alexander Mattison, and O'Connell said Ty Chandler would work as the Vikings' kick returner with Nwangwu out.
With Hockenson's deal done, the focus for the Vikings turns to a possible contract extension for wide receiver Justin Jefferson. The Vikings have been talking with Jefferson's agents about a possible deal through training camp, while the receiver has been a full participant in practices.
"I try not to get into private conversations with people," Adofo-Mensah said. "But we've said it, and we'll continue to say, Justin is somebody we want around here for a really long time. And we're going to do everything we can to do that. Whenever that happens, it'll be a great day for the Vikings."
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