As the confetti settles on the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl parade, the front office is already shifting gears toward an offseason full of critical decisions. At the top of the list? Locking down Jaxon Smith-Njigba with a long-term extension that could reset the wide receiver market - or even the entire non-quarterback pay scale.
Smith-Njigba just wrapped up a breakout season for the ages. His 1,793 receiving yards weren’t just a franchise record - they were the eighth-most in a single season in NFL history.
That kind of production earned him AP Offensive Player of the Year honors and cemented his status as one of the league’s elite pass-catchers. Now, with one year left on his rookie deal, the 2023 first-round pick is officially eligible for an extension.
And make no mistake - it won’t come cheap.
Looking at the Market
To get a sense of what Seattle might be staring down, let’s take a look at the current landscape of top-paid non-quarterbacks in the NFL, based on average annual value:
- Micah Parsons (EDGE, Packers) - $46.5M
- Aidan Hutchinson (EDGE, Lions) - $45M
- **T.J.
Watt (EDGE, Steelers)** - $41M
4.
Ja’Marr Chase (WR, Bengals) - $40.25M
5.
Myles Garrett (EDGE, Browns) - $40M
6.
Danielle Hunter (EDGE, Texans) - $35.6M
7.
Maxx Crosby (EDGE, Raiders) - $35.5M
8.
Justin Jefferson (WR, Vikings) - $35M
T-9.
Nick Bosa (EDGE, 49ers) - $34M
T-9.
CeeDee Lamb (WR, Cowboys) - $34M
Edge rushers dominate the list, with seven of the top ten spots. But wide receivers have made their mark too - and in some cases, they’ve set the bar.
Justin Jefferson’s four-year, $140 million deal in 2024 made him the highest-paid non-QB at the time, averaging $35 million per year. That title didn’t last long.
Ja’Marr Chase one-upped him in 2025 with a four-year, $161 million extension, pushing the annual average to $40.25 million.
So where does Smith-Njigba fit in? If you ask former NFL agent Joel Corry, now an analyst, he believes the Seahawks star has every reason to aim even higher.
“If I represented him, I’d be looking to be the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL,” Corry said in a recent radio interview. “That’s Micah Parsons at $46.5 million per year. I’d be looking to go above that.”
That’s a bold number - but not an unreasonable one when you consider what Smith-Njigba just accomplished. Offensive Player of the Year.
Nearly 1,800 yards. A Super Bowl ring.
He’s not just producing - he’s producing when it matters most.
Seattle’s Cap Situation
The good news for Seahawks fans? The team has the financial flexibility to make a blockbuster deal happen.
According to Over the Cap, Seattle enters the offseason with roughly $63.6 million in cap space - the sixth-most in the league. That gives GM John Schneider and the front office some breathing room to negotiate without having to gut other parts of the roster.
And while it’s true that Smith-Njigba still has a year left on his rookie deal, Seattle also holds a key piece of leverage: the fifth-year option. That’s a benefit only available for first-round picks, and it gives the Seahawks the ability to extend his rookie contract by a year without jumping straight into long-term negotiations. But with the way Smith-Njigba is playing - and the way the receiver market is trending - waiting could only drive the price higher.
The Puka Nacua Factor
One intriguing wrinkle in all this? The situation unfolding in Los Angeles with Rams wideout Puka Nacua.
Like Smith-Njigba, Nacua is coming off a monster season - 1,715 receiving yards, good for second in the league and 14th all-time for a single season. He’s also entering the final year of his rookie contract.
But there’s a key difference: Nacua was a fifth-round pick. That means no fifth-year option, and no early-career financial cushion. The Rams may feel more urgency to get a deal done quickly, and that could influence the market for Smith-Njigba.
“Puka’s the wild card in the equation,” Corry explained. “The Rams have more urgency, because he’s in a contract year - fifth-round pick, hasn’t made as much money. Sometimes you can get a guy like that to take a little less than you would if he was in a better financial standing.”
If Nacua signs first, his deal could effectively set the floor for Smith-Njigba’s extension. And if Smith-Njigba goes first? Then Nacua’s camp will be watching closely to see where the bar is set.
What’s Next?
The Seahawks have a golden opportunity here. They’ve got a young, elite receiver coming off a historic season.
They’ve got cap space to work with. And they’ve got the kind of momentum that comes with hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.
The challenge now is striking the right deal - one that rewards Smith-Njigba for what he’s done and what he’s capable of, without handcuffing the team’s future flexibility. It’s a delicate balance, but it’s also the kind of problem every GM in the league would love to have.
Because when you’ve got a star like Smith-Njigba? You don’t let him walk. You build around him.