SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks and Jaxon Smith-Njigba have reached an agreement on a new four-year contract that will make him the highest-paid receiver in NFL history, a source confirmed to The Seattle Times on Monday morning. ESPN, the NFL Network and CBS Sports were among those to report that the deal will pay Smith-Njigba up to $168.6 million, an average of $42.15 million that will better ...

Jaxon Smith-Njigba of the Seattle Seahawks holds up the Vince Lombardi Trophy during a Super Bowl LX trophy celebration at Lumen Field in Seattle on Feb. 11, 2026.

Jason Redmond/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks and Jaxon Smith-Njigba have reached an agreement on a new four-year contract that will make him the highest-paid receiver in NFL history, a source confirmed to The Seattle Times on Monday morning.

ESPN, the NFL Network and CBS Sports were among those to report that the deal will pay Smith-Njigba up to $168.6 million, an average of $42.15 million that will better the previous record for a receiver of Ja’Marr Chase of the Cincinnati Bengals by almost $2 million.

Chase signed a four-year deal last March that averaged $40.25 million.

The deal is also reported to include $120 million guaranteed, also a record for a receiver, and keeps Smith-Njigba with the Seahawks through the 2031 season.

The agreement comes three days after the Seahawks announced that they had picked up the fifth-year option on Smith-Njigba’s contract for the 2027 season.

Picking up the fifth-year option was viewed as only a precursor to getting a long-term extension done to keep Smith-Njigba with the Seahawks for deep following a breakout 2025 season in which he was named as The Associated Press' Offensive Player of the Year after leading the NFL and setting a team record with 1,793 receiving yards.

The new deal folds in the extension and means Smith-Njigba will make $195 million over the next six seasons, an average of $32.5 million.

The Seahawks on Friday also picked up a fifth-year option on the contract of cornerback Devon Witherspoon for the 2027 season and it is expected that he will also soon get a new long-term, megadeal.

This is the first offseason in which either of the two players is eligible for an extension.

The new deal affirms Smith-Njigba’s recent statement that he felt he deserved to be the highest-paid player at his position and the Seahawks’ stated desire to keep as much of their core together as they can following a 2025 season in which the Seahawks won the second Super Bowl title in franchise history.

During an interview last month with WFAA TV in his native Dallas, Smith-Njigba talked about his prospects for getting a new contract completed this offseason.

I'm really not too pressed right now to get it done," Smith-Njigba said. "I know my time is coming, and when we get it done, it's going to be a great deal. God's timing is perfect timing, so whenever that may come, we'll 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's worth a lot more."

It will be worth watching how long Smith-Njigba will keep his mark as the highest-paid receiver in the league as Puka Nacua of the Los Angeles Rams is also eligible for an extension and could try to match of better the average per year of JSN.

The good news for the Seahawks is getting their deal done first with Smith-Njigba and keeping him with the team into the next decade.

Smith-Njigba first came to Seattle as a first-round pick of the 2023 NFL draft, taken 20th overall out of Ohio State.

He tied a franchise record in 2024 with 100 receptions in his second NFL season and followed that up with a season for the ages in 2025 when he became just the fourth player in NFL history to lead the league in receiving and win a Super Bowl title in the same season.

The contract is the second significant extension the team has signed this calendar year with a recent first-round pick.

In January, the Seahawks signed left tackle Charles Cross to a four-year, $104.4 million that keeps him with the team through the 2030 season and was the largest in team history to a player other than a quarterback.

But that record has been broken by Smith-Njigba, who just turned 24 last month and is poised to stay in Seattle for years to come.

The Seahawks earlier this month also re-signed free agent Rashid Shaheed to a three-year deal worth up to $51 million but have a decision to make if they want to match a two-year, $5.5 million offer sheet that Jake Bobo signed on Friday with Jacksonville.

The Seahawks have until Wednesday to match that offer or lose Bobo to the Jaguars without compensation. If Bobo were to stay, they would have their top five receivers last season all under contract for at least two more years.

The Seahawks saw four players depart during the first two days of free agency — safety Coby Bryant, rush end Boye Mafe, running back Kenneth Walker III and cornerback Riq Woolen.

It appeared the Seahawks were progressing with their offseason with a plan to re-sign Smith-Njigba and Witherspoon, each to deals that projected to be at or above the top of the pay market at those positions. Monday they got the first half of that task completed.

____