The Seattle Seahawks made it a top priority to extend the contract of superstar wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and he’s now the league’s highest paid receiver after hammering out a $168 million deal. In addition to the remaining two years on his rookie contract, JSN currently won’t be a free agent until the 2032 offseason, by which point the Offensive Player of the Year will only be 30 years old.
On Wednesday, JSN was joined by Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald and general manager John Schneider
for a special press conference to talk about this extension, among other loosely related topics. Here are some of the top quotes from the press conference, courtesy of Seahawks Media via ASAP Sports:
Jaxon Smith-Njigba on how it feels to have the extension out of the way
“I mean, it definitely just feels good. Like John said, ever since I got drafted, I just felt the love and just really just understanding me. It’s an honor to feel that confidence come from your teammates and come from the third floor and your head coach, and for us to get this deal done speaks volumes. Definitely just a little weight off my shoulders just to go out there and let it fly.”
JSN on becoming the NFL’s highest paid receiver
“For me, it’s always more work to be done. There’s always another level to reach. But it is a blessing. This is a business. I want to do good business. And that’s where we’re at right now.”
What’s next for Jaxon Smith-Njigba?
“The only thing better than one Super Bowl is two. So just working to get there, whatever my team needs from me, I make sure I get it done.“
Coach Mike Macdonald on Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s leadership
“I think it’s unique to see that type of dominating performance on a consistent basis but also the humility, what Jax was saying, his servant leadership that he provides to our team. He’s not the guy that’s breaking every huddle, every team meeting and everything like that, but what he does every day, what type of teammate he is, to the guys in that locker room, I mean, that speaks volumes, and that’s where he does his talking.”
John Schneider on the process of getting the contract extension done
“Just give Joey Laine a ton of credit. We’ve had a great relationship with Jax’s agent, Joel Segal, for a long, long time. We were able to just keep things in-house, keep it respectful. When you’re on the higher end of these deals, that are actually — I don’t want to say they’re easier — but everybody recognizes Jax’s talent and his work ethic. And like I said the person. I remember being an intern in 1992, and we signed Reggie White, he was the first biggest free agent in NFL history and the Packers had $24 million in the bank and they gave him 14. You know? So I’ve got to get with the times a little bit now. It’s like, okay, and Joey Laine and Joey Schneider helped me out a ton with that.”
Coach Macdonald on when he new Smith-Njigba was in for a monster 2025 season
“It was pretty early. It was pretty early. There’s never like just one play because of the constant growth that’s required, but I thought our defense was playing at a high level throughout camp and throughout the offseason program. We had a really hard time covering him. To Jax’s credit, his ability to not just stand in one place and only be able to do one thing, to be able to move him around, understand how to run the whole route tree, the chemistry that’s required with Sam [Darnold], that’s a lot of work that it takes. And you could see it coming to life every day, and that was really exciting.”
John Schneider on how much he values the wide receiver position
“We value people, not necessarily the position — so people, the competitor, how they fit into our organization. And it’s our constant quest to be a consistent championship-caliber football team. We don’t really get into like position specifics. We just know we want to be smart in the people and the competitor we’re investing in.”
Jaxon Smith-Njigba on the Seahawks re-signing Jake Bobo and Rashid Shaheed
“Excited to have the guys back. We know how special we are, what we contribute to the team, each single one of us. Just like John said, just great people, love to work with them. I respect them on and off the field. We’re excited to gear up and get ready for our second year together.”
John Schneider on that anxious wait from pick 5 to 20 when they drafted JSN in 2023
“Yeah, it took forever. I remember I was probably driving Trent [Kirchner] and Matt Berry and Nolan [Teasley], those guys, probably driving those guys crazy. Do we go up? Should we go up? Should we go for him? Like, you get a little itchy. But we had just kind of studied like, okay, where, like how, and it literally felt like three hours or something. Changed my shirt a couple times.”
Check out the full press conference in the video below!
