RENTON, Wash. — The confetti has barely been swept from the parade route, but the bill for the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl LX victory is already sitting on John Schneider’s desk. And the biggest line item? It belongs to the man who just tore the league apart: Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Fresh off earning AP Offensive Player of the Year honors and shattering franchise records with 1,793 receiving yards, “JSN” isn’t just looking for a raise. He’s looking to reset the financial hierarchy of the entire NFL.
The Price of Perfection
Smith-Njigba’s 2025 campaign wasn’t just good; it was historic. He hauled in 119 catches (another franchise record) and became the engine of Ryan Grubb’s offense. Now, entering the final year of his rookie deal, the leverage has shifted entirely to his camp.
Former agent and salary cap expert Joel Corry didn’t mince words on Seattle Sports this week. While the wide receiver market has exploded—thanks to Ja’Marr Chase’s $40.25 million annual deal—Corry believes JSN’s camp is eyeing a bigger target.
“If I represented him, I would be looking at being the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL. That’s Micah Parsons at $46.5 million per year. I’d be looking to go above that.”
— Joel Corry, CBS Sports
That number—$47 million per year—would make Smith-Njigba the highest-paid skill player in history, surpassing even the quarterback-wrecking salaries of pass rushers like Aidan Hutchinson ($45M) and T.J. Watt ($41M).
The Puka Nacua Wild Card
While Seattle crunches the numbers, eyes are turning south to Los Angeles. Rams receiver Puka Nacua also just wrapped up a monster 2025 season, finishing second in the league with 1,715 yards. But their contract situations couldn’t be more different.
Because Smith-Njigba was a first-round pick, Seattle holds a powerful ace up its sleeve: the fifth-year option. They can keep JSN under team control through 2027 without a massive extension right now. Nacua, a fifth-round gem, doesn’t have that restriction. He is a true free agent after 2026, meaning the Rams are under significantly more pressure to get a deal done now.
“Puka’s the wild card,” Corry noted. “Whatever Puka signs for—if he goes first—will be the floor. And vice versa.”
Cap Space is King
The good news for the 12s? The Seahawks are flush with cash. According to Over the Cap, Seattle sits on roughly $63.6 million in cap space, the sixth-most in the NFL. They have the flexibility to front-load a massive deal for Smith-Njigba, keeping his cap hits manageable later in the contract when they inevitably have to pay other rising stars.
What’s Next?
General Manager John Schneider loves to strike early, but the price tag here is astronomical. Expect Seattle to exercise the fifth-year option immediately as a safety net, buying time to negotiate. But make no mistake: Smith-Njigba has proven he’s not just a WR1—he’s the offensive MVP of the league. If Seattle wants to run it back for Super Bowl LXI, JSN needs to be paid like the cornerstone he is.
