3 Takeaways From Seahawks Historic Extension of Receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba
As expected, Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider has locked up his team’s most explosive playmaker for the foreseeable future. The Seahawks and wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who is the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year, have agreed to a four-year, $168.6 million contract extension.
The average annual salary of $42.15 million makes Smith-Njigba the highest-paid receiver in the league, and the $120 million in guaranteed money is the most ever earned by a receiver in league history.
With the Super Bowl champs securing the team’s top playmaker through the 2031 season, here are my takeaways:
Seahawks show Smith-Njigba the money, signal he’s best WR in NFL
Seattle exercised Smith-Njigba’s fifth-year option on his rookie contract before signing him to the new deal. Just 24 years old, the Ohio State product set franchise single-season records for receptions (119) and receiving yards (1,793) in 2025. The 1,793 receiving yards are the eighth-most in league history, and his nine 100-yard games led the league during the regular season.
While Kenneth Walker III led Seattle’s offense in the Super Bowl, Smith-Njigba was the primary reason for Sam Darnold’s success in the offense during the year. Smith-Njigba accounted for 44% of Seattle’s receiving yards, the highest percentage by any player in the league. He led Seattle in receiving yards in 16 of 17 games this year, the most in a regular season in NFL history.
Smith-Njigba also made a seamless transition from slot receiver to outside receiver with DK Metcalf moving on to the Pittsburgh Steelers in an offseason trade. Smith-Njigba led the NFL in catches of at least 20 yards (27) and 40-plus yards (8).
In 2024, he led the league with 956 receiving yards (with five touchdowns) when aligned in the slot, per Next Gen Stats. But in 2025, Smith-Njigba led the league with 1,378 receiving yards (with eight touchdowns) when aligned out wide.
Schneider signing Smith-Njigba to a historic deal shows his faith in the talented receiver continuing to produce at a high level, along with Seattle’s commitment to develop and retain high-character guys who positively influence other players in the locker room.
Seahawks focused on keeping foundational talent
Seattle lost a handful of key players from the Super Bowl roster during free agency, with guys like running back Kenneth Walker III, cornerback Coby Bryant, edge rusher Boye Mafe and cornerback Riq Woolen signing lucrative deals with other NFL teams.
While those players were significant contributors to the team’s march to the Lombardi Trophy, including Seattle’s Super Bowl MVP in Walker, the Seahawks deemed them replaceable, partly because of the massive investments that they have to make for other critical players on rookie contracts. Smith-Njigba became extension eligible this offseason, and it only took Seattle a matter of weeks to sign him to a multi-year deal. Next up for the Seahawks is cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who also became extension eligible earlier in March, as Seattle’s other 2023 first-round pick seems set to receive a massive deal. The Seahawks picked up Witherspoon’s fifth-year option when they did the same for Smith-Njigba this past week, looking to keep the standout corner in Seattle for the foreseeable future.
Back in January, Seattle signed 2022 first-round selection offensive tackle Charles Cross to a four-year, $104.4 million contract extension. And the Seahawks managed to return electric receiver and return man Rashid Shaheed in free agency on a three-year, $51 million deal.
Scheider can’t keep everyone, but so far he has shown which players he deems most important to the long-term sustainable success of his team, seeking to take advantage of a Super Bowl window by whom he’s allocating long-term deals to.
Will Rams star Puka Nacua eclipse Smith-Njigba’s mark? Maybe not anytime soon.
Smith-Njigba was the latest receiver to earn a jaw-dropping contract, continuing to raise the bar as contracts soar with this playmaking position group.
Considered the best receiver at the time, Justin Jefferson signed a new deal that paid him $35 million annually two years ago. Fellow LSU product Ja’Marr Chase bumped that annual salary average to $40.25 million with his new deal last season.
Rams star Puka Nacua should presumably be the next star wide receiver to receive a record-setting contract, but willthat be the case? (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
And now Smith-Njigba has raised the floor to $42.15 million. Los Angeles receiver Puka Nacua, in the final year of his rookie contract, is the next receiver in line to receive a life-changing new contract. But league sources I spoke with expressed some skepticism that the Rams will make Nacua the next wide receiver to receive a record-setting contract, at least this offseason.
“I don’t think the Rams are looking to do extensions right now,” an NFL agent told me. “They’re focused on adding to the team only, and players under contract are under contract.”
“The Rams are probably not in a rush to do that deal the way the Seahawks were in a rush to do JSN,” an NFL player familiar with Nacua told me. “Being a leader on and off the field matters even more when you’re the highest-paid guy. YOU ARE the team’s marketing campaign at that point.”
If the Rams don’t extend Nacua this offseason, they might face the possibility of having to place the franchise tag on him next offseason, which won’t come cheap. The franchise tag for receivers of $27.3 million this offseason is the second-highest in the NFL, behind only quarterbacks at $43.4 million. Five years ago, the franchise tag for receivers was $18.4 million.
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