Photo Credit: Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union

Well, they finally did it, and it’s worth every penny. The Seattle Seahawks extended star receiver and reigning Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba to a four-year, $168.8M extension with $120M guaranteed. Smith-Njigba will now be the highest-paid receiver in the NFL when the deal kicks in, with a cap hit of $42.1M.

In only his third season in the NFL, JSN showed everyone that he is one of the premier receivers in the league, racking up 119 receptions, 10 touchdowns, and leading the league in receiving yards with 1,793.

Smith-Njigba was the 20th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and after having only 628 yards in his rookie year, blaming you Shane Waldron, he had a solid sophomore season and made the Pro Bowl in 2024. But after Seattle signed Sam Darnold and hired Klint Kubiak as offensive coordinator, JSN took off. He had nine catches for 124 yards in Week 1 and didn’t look back.

Now you see the cap hit and say, “Wow, that’s expensive.” First off, I’d rather pay JSN $42.1M than DK Metcalf $33M. Second, like I said before, it’s worth every penny. JSN was pretty much our entire passing attack, and he’s only 24 years old. Who’s to say he’s peaked? This could just be the start, and let me say this. I’m happy he got his money before Puka Nacua did.

So what does this mean for the Seahawks? It’s good they got this done sooner rather than later. They picked up Smith-Njigba’s fifth-year option, so he would’ve been under contract for two more years anyway, and I wasn’t worried about any sort of contract dispute.

But the fifth overall pick in the 2023 draft, Devon Witherspoon, is also looking for an extension after having his fifth-year option picked up. Seattle still has a ton of cap space remaining, and I expect Witherspoon’s deal to be in the $20–$25M range.

I’m happy John Schneider has prioritized keeping this new core together and is spending the money to keep his star players in town. Take notes, Dallas.