The title of this article is a question that has been floating around the Green Bay Packers sphere over the past couple of weeks, as Packers receiver Christian Watson already has 452 receiving yards and five touchdowns over his seven games since being activated from the injured reserve. For those who need a reminder: Before Watson ever returned to the field from his 2024 ACL tear, Watson signed a one-year, $11 million extension with the Packers — somewhat of a gamble for both sides.
On Green Bay’s
end, it was uncertain how Watson, who wouldn’t be medically cleared to return to action for another month and a half, would respond to his major knee injury that required surgery. On Watson’s end, another major injury in 2025 probably would have tanked his market in his prime earning seasons, meaning this could have been his last chance to make life-changing money on the field.
At this point, though, the Packers must be overcome with joy that they got the deal done, as Watson has posted 169 yards and three touchdowns in Green Bay’s last two wins, both one-score games over divisional rivals. In fact, it’s not out of the question that the Packers end up extending Watson again before he even plays out the one-year deal tacked onto the end of his rookie contract.
So many Green Bay fans are asking the question: How much money are the Packers saving with Christian Watson’s extension?
Here’s an excerpt of what I wrote in September, when the extension was announced:
For perspective, the Detroit Lions’ Jameson Williams, who has posted similar stats to Watson to date in a similar field-stretching role, inked a three-year contract that pays him out $27.7 million in new money, more than twice what Watson will get for his extra year in Green Bay.
With the addition of Williams, there are now 24 veteran NFL receivers who are making at least $20 million per year. For perspective, there are only six wide receivers on non-rookie contracts under the age of 28 (think second-contract players) who make between $5 million and $20 million per year. Yes, the gulf is wide. Usually, this is more of the range of a declining star than the range for a young pass-catcher that a team plans to play like a number 1 or 2 receiver.
In this $5 million to $20 million range, Watson’s comparables are Jerry Jeudy, Khalil Shakir, Rashod Bateman, Tutu Atwell, Dyami Brown and Josh Palmer. Jeudy has averaged 856 yards per season over his career (excluding 2025) and was traded for a fifth- and sixth-round pick last year. Bateman is at 481. Shakir is Buffalo’s third receiver and has averaged 531 yards. Atwell has averaged 448 in his career. Brown is at 196. Palmer has posted 572.
In short, few young receivers in the NFL make between $5 million and $20 million per year. If the Packers wanted to start extension talks with Watson, the floor is probably going to be in the $20 million per year range.
As I pointed out at the time, Detroit Lions receiver Jameson Williams and Watson have had fairly similar production in the NFL, and Williams earned north of $26 million per year on his contract.
For perspective, Williams has 128 receptions, 2,198 yards and 16 touchdowns in the air in his NFL career. Watson has 123 receptions, 2,105 yards and 19 touchdowns. They were both drafted in the 2022 class, and Williams even has a torn ACL in his past, which cost him double-digit games in his rookie season.
Watson is two years older than Williams, had his injury more recently and doesn’t come with a first-round pedigree (but the 34th overall pick is close to that threshold). So, maybe there’s a little wiggle room that general manager Brian Gutekunst and executive vice president/director of football operations Russ Ball can manipulate in their favor, but any Watson extension would probably come with a price tag in the $20 million per year range.
So if you’re wondering how much value the Packers got out of that one-year extension, it’s probably in the $10 million range. Good on Gutekunst and Ball for getting that deal done when they did.
