{"id":770542,"date":"2026-02-23T06:22:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T06:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/770542\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T06:22:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T06:22:23","slug":"seattle-reporter-confirms-seahawks-double-contract-decision-amid-jaxon-smith-njigbas-40m-demand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/770542\/","title":{"rendered":"Seattle Reporter Confirms Seahawks\u2019 Double Contract Decision Amid Jaxon Smith-Njigba\u2019s $40M Demand"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fresh off a Super Bowl run, the Seattle Seahawks<\/a> are preparing to write two of the biggest checks in franchise history, but one player\u2019s demand to become the highest-paid at his position could complicate the celebration. According to ESPN\u2019s Seahawks reporter Brady Henderson, Mike Macdonald\u2019s franchise is ready to reward Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Devon Witherspoon by securing them at once through a double-contract decision.<\/p>\n

The move makes it clear that Seattle wants to lock in its young stars after they rose to the occasion this past season. Both Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Devon Witherspoon earned Pro Bowl selections last year and followed it up by taking massive leaps. They became All-Pro while the wideout also became the NFL\u2019s 2025 Offensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

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Smith-Njigba built his case for a massive payday on the back of a career-defining season, exploding for 1,793 receiving yards, surpassing his previous season\u2019s total by 663 yards. Across Seattle\u2019s three-game postseason run, he added 199 yards and two touchdowns.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeahawks plan to extend Jaxon Smith-Njigba, CB Devon Witherspoon this offseason, via @BradyHenderson,\u201d Underdog NFL wrote on X.<\/p>\n

On the other side of the ball, Witherspoon was a lockdown force, anchoring the secondary despite missing five games. His impact went beyond his 72 tackles, as he consistently shut down opposing receivers, reflected in his seven passes defended and a league-best 90.1 PFF grade for his position.<\/p>\n

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Their efforts certainly justify the team\u2019s decision; timing also plays a crucial role. Spotrac reported that the Seahawks currently have about $73 million in cap space, the fifth-most in the NFL. With this kind of flexibility, they can spend big on the pair who are under contract through 2027. Experts have predicted Smith-Njigba to land an extension worth $24.39 million annually and pegged Witherspoon\u2019s at $20.78 million each year.<\/p>\n

Hence, they could incur a total cost of $45 million, leaving nearly $28 million for other roster spending. That combined figure may seem high, but successful franchises often take risks when it comes to their foundational players. Meanwhile, the situation is complicated by Jaxon Smith-Njigba\u2019s recent comments<\/a> on his contract expectations.<\/p>\n

Jaxon Smith-Njigba wants to become the highest-paid WR<\/p>\n

After a championship run, they have solid cap space to rebuild their team with room for aggressive decisions. But as star performances lead to big contracts, no player is staring at a larger payday than Jaxon Smith-Njigba.<\/p>\n

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While the receiver isn\u2019t fretting over a deal just yet, he expects his extension to reset the market.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really not too pressed right now to get it done,\u201d Smith-Njigba told WFAA. \u201cI know my time is coming, and when we get it done, it\u2019s going to be a great deal. God\u2019s timing is perfect timing, so whenever that may come, we\u2019ll be ready for it. I believe I deserve to be the highest paid in my position. Just what I give to the game and the community, I give it my all, and I think that\u2019s worth a lot more.\u201d<\/p>\n

That would likely mean he\u2019s eyeing a contract that sits over $40 million annually. Currently, Ja\u2019Marr Chase is the NFL\u2019s top receiver after the Bengals signed him to a four-year, $161 million extension last year. Justin Jefferson is second with annual earnings of $35 million. Meanwhile, Smith-Njigba currently earns $3.6 million annually under his $14.4 million contract that will run through at least 2026, and a fifth-year option is available for 2027.<\/p>\n

Should he become the highest-paid player in his position, his yearly earnings would jump nearly thirteenfold his current salary. The Seahawks also have until May 1 to exercise a fifth-year option. Despite the business side, Smith-Njigba says his love for football runs so deep that he could play for free.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBut you don\u2019t have to, and I\u2019m learning to be a good businessman, and we need that check at the end of the day,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Seattle\u2019s front office faces a delicate balancing act: rewarding its homegrown superstars as market-setters while preserving the financial flexibility that built their championship roster in the first place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fresh off a Super Bowl run, the Seattle Seahawks are preparing to write two of the biggest checks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":770543,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2081],"tags":[223,254,228,2865,7,109457,18870,2780,6337,6,238,237,261,2635],"class_list":{"0":"post-770542","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-seattle-seahawks","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-falcons","10":"tag-bengals","11":"tag-devon-witherspoon","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-georgia-usa","14":"tag-jaxon","15":"tag-justin-jefferson","16":"tag-mercedes-benz-stadium","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-seahawks","19":"tag-seattle","20":"tag-seattle-seahawks","21":"tag-seattleseahawks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116118509700298341","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=770542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/770543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=770542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=770542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=770542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}