EAGAN, Minn. — Justin Jefferson and Blake Cashman get it.

The record-obliterating wide receiver and multifaceted middle linebacker were in sync Tuesday afternoon from opposite sides of the Vikings locker room at Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center.

As players mourned the abrupt end to an overachieving yet hope-giving 14-win season – clearing stalls, packing personal belongings, moving onto 2025 – 'Jets' and 'Cash' accented what's on everyone's minds.

That this team, top to bottom, was special. But, ideally, not lightning in a bottle.

"Yeah, I've said it probably five times already," Cashman mused, noting the defense relied on playing with joy, and realized it worked well. "When you think about how you played this game when you're a little kid … where you're just doing it for the love of the game, like, that's what this team felt like. I feel that spirit in you, doing this at a professional level, is something that I think is really hard to replicate."

Rare camaraderie, the banding together of teammates, maybe as much if not more as splendid execution, is what enabled Minnesota to relish its second-winningest regular season in team history.

On paper it looked like a science project, fusing franchise cornerstones such as safety Harrison Smith, offensive tackles Christian Darrisaw and Brian O'Neill and Jefferson with veterans from all over, like quarterback Sam Darnold, edge rushers Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, and Cashman.

The experiment merged many players who had been casted off elsewhere and became a major success.

Darnold rode a middle-of-the-year peak to MVP chants and big-money contract rumors. Greenard and Cashman, teammates in Houston, as well as Gink', played at verifiable Defensive Player of the Year levels.

Other veterans, running back Aaron Jones, Sr., and cornerbacks Stephon Gilmore and Shaq Griffin improved the Vikings at valuable positions, but they're three of more than 20 players with expiring contracts, which will underscore Minnesota's focus to replicate its family feel in free agency.

"It's great to have a home, have a team, because free agency can be wild," quipped Cashman, who landed last cycle with the team he grew up admiring on a three-year deal. "It's gonna get stressful.

"We're not oblivious to the fact this is a business, and no team is the same every year. But, honestly, I think that's what hurt the most. I mean, I think there were five different times [Monday] I started tearing up because the reality hits that your season is over and we had such an awesome year; we hate to end the way it did, and we know how much it meant to everybody outside of this building, too, and the fans and community," Cashman added. "But then when you start looking around the locker room, and you realize that, like, the relationships we had, it's all, it can be shaken up because some guys won't be here, some guys will. And that starts pulling on the heartstrings, again. … It was truly a brotherhood."

Point blank, Jefferson and Cashman understand the nature of the NFL and farewells.

"That's the [toughest] part about the league," Jefferson said regarding potentially losing guys that tightened the culture. "You never know if they're gonna be here this year and be gone tomorrow. That's the tough part about this team, that this team was so bonded together, the chemistry and just everything. I feel like that's the main thing we're taking away, is that this team will never be the same."

Thirty other teams, eventually, will be in the same spot, the same headspace as Minnesota, eager to rework their rosters because something was absent and prevented them from holding up a Lombardi.

Cashman compared the suddenness of the season ending to the emergency brake being yanked on a train going full speed. But, he said, that brusqueness shouldn't overshadow the greatness of this team.

Jefferson insisted players shouldn't hang their heads for long. After all, there were many positive takeaways. They rejected external expectations, turned inward and stood solid against adversity.

While duplicating the intimacy of the 2024 team will be difficult, there's a formula or rather a set of principles that were fundamental to its vibes and resilient spines, and capable of copying to a degree.

Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell revisited them shortly after the team's 27-9 Wild Card loss to his ex-boss Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams on Monday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

"What I would tell you is when you have the makeup of players that are smart, tough, love football and love being great teammates, you have the feeling that exists in that locker room right now," O'Connell shared, adamant that it involves a process beginning with him. "That's the foundation. We've got to find a way to match that foundation with our performance across the board as a team and a coaching staff."

The simplest translation is that experiences of this season can carry over in multiple ways to next.

Jefferson pointed toward lessons at the end of the year – the playoff-like stakes in Week 18 at Detroit and the gravity of Monday's defeat – as beneficial for the 2025 group, with whomever joins the picture. Also, he suggested the closeness of this year's team may lend itself to more offseason activities ("being in each other's space") whether that's training or just hanging out when people aren't traveling.

Obviously, there's uncharted territory to reach, as well. Jefferson has played only two playoff games in five seasons and never advanced past the opening round, despite being a part of 13- and 14-win teams.

What, in his mind, has caused the hasty exits?

"I really don't know. But we've got to figure it out. I can't stand to keep going to the playoffs and only playing one game and being out of it," Jefferson said punctually. "I want to compete for a Super Bowl."

With the groundwork laid, running it back with a similarly strong culture is paramount to that goal.

Jefferson noted how O'Connell has done a great job at gauging Vikings players' interests in certain acquisitions, getting a sense for how they may fit into the environment. More often, however, his conversations with coaches are centered on his ability to elevate the team's prospects on game days.

"All in all, I'm trying to make myself better. I'm trying to get myself better to go up against these double teams and triple teams that I've been going up against," Jefferson disclosed. "I always say that there is room for improvement – always. I'm not the most perfect receiver in the league. I didn't go through the whole season without dropping a ball, so there's definitely things to work on and things to improve on."

That involves refining techniques, immersing in extensive film study and drawing up coverage-beaters.

It's one half of the equation: returning players honing their skills. The other half is roster building.

Cashman stated his belief in O'Connell and General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to identify additions and re-signings that will maintain Minnesota's competitiveness and press the up button on the elevator.

"We all understand what it takes and how to do it," Cashman reinforced. "It's just a matter of continuing to have the right people in the building, which I think everybody here has all the confidence in the world in the staff here, in Kwesi, and K.O. I think they've taken this organization to the next level.

"I also think we have the best, maybe, ownership in football," Cashman continued. "That's unique – when you have that, it's going to lead to an organization where you're going to attract the right people."

Cashman and Jefferson, worth consideration as being the team's MVPs on defense and offense because of their steady playmaking and assertiveness vs. challengers in big moments, are definitely qualified to speak on behalf of Minnesota's run, which will go down as unforgettable, for famed and ill-fated reasons.

"The relationships, camaraderie, family, brotherhood, like all of those are underlying factors that make a team so great," said Cashman, categorizing them as the ultimate difference. "When you think about championship-level teams, no matter the sport, it all starts with the culture. And we have a great culture here, and now it's time to start looking forward and continuing to build off the great year that we had."

Easier, no doubt about it, said than done.

"You can try to, but that's something that's difficult, having all 53 guys plus practice squad to be bonded as one and to be on the same page, that's very, very difficult to do," Jefferson reflected. "That's why this year was very special. That's why we're calling this year a special one. It doesn't really happen too often.

"It's definitely one of those teams that won't be forgotten, for sure," he added.