ORLANDO — Justin Jefferson remained consistent last season whenever anybody asked about Kirk Cousins. As much as he went out of his way to praise his quarterback every chance he got, Jefferson always stopped short of saying his future with the Vikings hinged on whether Cousins was still around.

Now that the Vikings have moved on from Cousins — or more accurately, Cousins has moved on from them — they are at a crossroads that could define the next decade for the franchise. They have to decide how aggressive they want to be in selecting a quarterback in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

How exactly will the best player on the team factor into that decision? Asked that exact question at the NFL’s annual meeting, head coach Kevin O’Connell shed some light on how things could play out, noting that he wants Jefferson to feel like part of the process.

“It makes no sense for me to talk about the communication and the relationships I’ve built with all of our players and then not at least engage with our guys,” O’Connell said. “You don’t want them to feel like they’re not involved and they’re just showing up to whatever team we’ve put together.”

Though that doesn’t mean Jefferson will be the one making the decision, if the Vikings decide to pull the trigger on a quarterback next month, he likely won’t be surprised by the particular player who gets picked.

“I felt very strongly about keeping him informed,” O’Connell said. “He’s been in the loop.”

It’s unclear if the Vikings will be able to move up to the top of the draft for somebody like Jayden Daniels out of LSU, Drake Maye out of UNC or J.J. McCarthy out of Michigan. As of right now, journeyman Sam Darnold is set to be the starting quarterback after signing with the Vikings as a free agent this month.

Whoever is under center for the Vikings will have the luxury of Jefferson as his main target. That should make life easier on the offense regardless of who is throwing the ball.

“You watch Justin and he does things that other guys cannot do,” O’Connell said. “Whether it’s a short, an intermediate, or a long route, he has the ability to do things explosively at full speed with total control of every facet of his body as he goes to attack the ball in the air.”

The elephant in the room is the fact that Jefferson still hasn’t signed his contract extension. Not that there’s any reason to believe that it won’t get done at some point.

Let’s just say the Vikings understand how important Jefferson is and how important he will be if they decide to take a big swing in the 2024 NFL Draft.

“Nobody has had more success through the first four years of their career than Justin Jefferson at the receiver position,” O’Connell said. “That’s a fact. That’s not just my opinion. That can go a long way for a young quarterback to have a guy like that.”