When the ink dried on Justin Jefferson‘s historic 4-year, $140 million extension with the Vikings, it was a landmark moment – cementing the 24-year-old as the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history at $35 million per year. However, as NFL insider Mike Florio bluntly stated, this megadeal is just “the opening salvo” in an impending wide receiver salary arms race.

“Jefferson under contract for four years beyond 2024…it sounds like it gets a little bit light on the back end and the Vikings may have to deal with this again after 2026 if he’s still playing at a very high level,” Florio dissected on the latest PFT PM episode. In NFL parlance, that’s a ‘show me’ deal – challenging JJ to prove he can sustain his other-worldly production over the next few seasons.

With 392 catches for 5,899 yards already under his belt through four years, the LSU product is leaving no doubt. He’s averaging an NFL-record 98.3 yards per game and fresh off a 2022 campaign where injuries limited him to just 10 games but he still racked up 1,074 yards.

As Florio stated, “Look no farther than the fourth and long play in Buffalo a couple of years ago…if you watch the film, the safety was flat-footed, Jefferson would have run right by him into the end zone for a touchdown to win the game.”

Yet even with that “Randy Moss-esque” flare for the spectacular, Jefferson is just getting started on resetting the wide receiver market. He’s following the blueprint laid out by none other than Tyreek Hill – the “Cheetah” who signed a $120 million deal with Miami last year only to immediately start agitating for a new contract.

Tyreek Hill putting maximum pressure on the Dolphins after Jefferson bags riches

“Tyreek Hill has been trying to get a new contract from the Dolphins since the 2023 season ended,” Florio revealed. “The AJ Brown deal got his attention because like Hill, Brown was traded in 2022 and had three years left on his contract, and Hill’s got three years left on his technically.”

Essentially, Hill wants to blow past his current $30 million per year pact after watching fellow burners like AJ Brown ($25M annually) and now Jefferson reset the market. His agent Drew Rosenhaus has made that crystal clear, telling a Miami TV station “The Dolphins know how we feel” about a new deal for the 30-year-old speedster.

However, Florio cautioned it won’t be easy for Hill to leapfrog Jefferson’s $35M benchmark due to the “phony $45 million” tacked onto the final year of his current deal to artificially inflate the value. “It makes it harder to get to a new money average that would match or exceed Justin Jefferson,” the salary cap expert explained. “They would probably have to use some phony balone fake backend number on a Tyreek Hill extension to get him to $35.1 – that’s what he’s going to try to do.”

In the iconic words of Ricky Bobby from Talladega Nights, Tyreek seems convinced he’s the best “like a mirror on the wall is telling him.” His next contract demands will be the litmus test for whether Miami’s committed to making him and Jaylen Waddle ($17.5M per year) one of the NFL’s highest-paid duos. No matter what though, Justin Jefferson’s new bar-setting deal has put every elite receiver on notice – if you want to be the king of the mountain, be ready to “shake and bake” the salary scale.