The Green Bay Packers have been focused on adding to a team with Super Bowl aspirations during free agency. However, an underlying storyline focuses on contract extensions for several young players, including wide receiver Christian Watson.
The Packers made a smart move by signing Watson to a one-year, $11 million extension while he was rehabbing from a torn ACL last September, and he rewarded them by becoming one of the most productive receivers on the team. The former 2022 second-rounder grabbed 35 passes for 611 yards and six touchdowns in 10 games.
That performance makes a contract extension a possibility in advance of the 2026 season, but it may have been complicated on Monday.Â
ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that the Seattle Seahawks have agreed to a four-year, $168.6 million contract with star wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The deal makes Smith-Njigba the highest-paid receiver in NFL history with an average of $42.15 million per year and $120 million guaranteed.
Simultaneously, the massive contract resets the receiver market for teams like the Packers, who may have lost ground in their pursuit to keep Watson in Green Bay beyond next season.
Packers’ Price to Keep Christian Watson Goes Up Again After Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s Extension
The Packers odds of keeping Watson looked good heading into the offseason. Spotrac projected Watson’s market value at $15.6 million per season and a three-year, $46.7 million total value entering the final year under team control, which looked like a wiser investment than overpaying Romeo Doubs to stay in Green Bay.
However, Doubs’s four-year, $68 million contract with the Patriots was part of a boom for the receiver market during free agency. Wan’Dale Robinson also pushed the market forward with a four-year, $70 million contract with the Tennessee Titans, and Alec Pierce was the big winner, getting a four-year, $114 million contract from the Indianapolis Colts.
Smith-Njigba’s contract may not seem like a fair comparison considering his monster 2025 season (119 catches, 1,793 yards, 10 touchdowns), but they are in range when you project Watson’s stats over a full 17-game schedule. If Watson played all 17 games, he would have finished with 59 catches for 1,038 yards and 10 TD, and only four players in the NFL reached those marks during the 2025 season.
- Puca Nacua (Rams): 129 receptions, 1,715 yards, 10 TDs
- Trey McBride (Cardinals): 126 receptions, 1,239 yards, 11 TDs
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Seahawks): 119 receptions, 1,793 yards, 10 TDs
- Amon-Ra St. Brown (Lions): 117 receptions, 1,401 yards, 11 TDs
The touchdowns are doing the heavy lifting to put Watson’s projection in this group. Conversely, it’s hard not to notice that St. Brown and Smith-Njigba are each making over $30 million in annual average value, and Nacua should join that list shortly as he enters a contract year and owns a $38.7 million market value projection by Spotrac.
McBride is only making $19 million per season, but that ranks second behind George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers for the highest AAV among tight ends, furthering Watson’s case for elite money at his position.
With Watson’s injury history, the Packers will likely think twice about giving out an extension worth $30 million. It may also benefit Green Bay to let Watson walk at the end of the year and pay Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks to keep two talented receivers in the mix for the price of extending Watson.
Whatever the Packers decide, Monday’s news is significant in Watson’s contract negotiations and gives Green Bay something to think about as they attempt to hammer out a deal.