Breaking down the T.J. Hockenson contract extension
This offseason, the Minnesota Vikings knew they needed to get some contract extensions in place and they did so with T.J. Hockenson on Thursday morning.
The future of the Vikings has looked to be rooted in both Hockenson and Justin Jefferson over the next few years and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah made sure that was the case. This was the first contract extension given out over his first 19 months as Vikings general manager that was more than two years.
What does the contract look like and how does it impact the Vikings long term? Let’s break it down piece by piece with details from Over The Cap.
Base salaries
2023: $1.392 million
2024: $9.9 million
2025: $10.9 million
2026: $15.4 million
2027: $17.4 million
Hockenson has workable base salaries over the course of his contract with his base salary dropping $8 million in 2023.
Signing bonus
His signing bonus is $18 million spread out over five seasons. Unlike with other contracts where Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has tacked on void years, Hockenson’s contract doesn’t have any. Each year has a signing bonus charge of $3.6 million.
Guarantees
Hockenson has $42.5 million in guarantees, but only $29.92 million is fully guaranteed at signing. That includes his base salaries in 2023 and 2024 along with his $18 million signing bonus. His base salary in 2025 is a rolling guarantee that will fully vest in March of 2024.
Other bonuses
In the four new years of Hockenson’s contract, he has a $500k worth of per game roster bonuses and $100k in workout bonuses. Both are relatively standard with contract extensions and are rolled into the salary cap hits.
There also $2.5 million in not likely to be earned incentives. We don’t have what those are currently, but they are structured as not likely to be earned because the benchmarks haven’t been hit previously by Hockenson.
Salary cap hits
2023: $4.992 million
2024: $14.1 million
2025: $15.1 million
2026: $19.6 million
2027: $21.6 million
The cap hit in 2023 is more manageable than it was previously. That will allow the Vikings to maneuver much easier during the season, including another potential extension and/or acquiring a player during the year. They have brought in multiple veterans in for a visit over the past few weeks and they could do the same before or during the season.
What can we conclude from Hockenson's contract?
This is a great win/win for both player and team. With the max value of the contract, Hockenson can claim that he’s the highest-paid tight end with the incentives and the Vikings have flexibility at the end of his contract. If things go south, they can get out of the contract after 2025 with a dead cap hit of $7.2 million. If things go well, they are set up nicely to do an extension.
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