With NFL training camps beginning to open up across the league, many teams are starting to lock up some of their star players as they enter their contract year. Of those teams, the New York Jets have been quite busy, locking up new deals with star wide receiver, Garrett Wilson, and star cornerback, Sauce Gardner up the same day. These contracts are something to keep an eye on for Seattle Seahawks fans because Seattle has some star players of their own at both the wide receiver and cornerback positions who are entering the final year of their contract or will be in position to be extended as soon as next offseason.
First, let’s look at the wide receiver position. Garrett Wilson’s former Ohio State teammate, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, surely was keeping an eye at the new contract that Wilson just signed. Wilson, a 2022 first-round draft pick out of Ohio State, showed his talent quickly in the NFL, earning Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2022 and logging at least 80 receptions, 1,000 yards, and three touchdowns in each of his first three years, all of this with subpar quarterback play as well. This has added up to a large pay-day for Wilson.
The exact contract numbers have not come out; however, the reported contract was a 4-year, $130 million contract including a $13.75 million signing bonus, and $90 million guaranteed. This comes out to $32.5 million average salary, which would put Wilson fifth among receivers in terms of annual pay. The receivers above Wilson? That would be Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, and DK Metcalf (remember him?).
When looking at Jaxon Smith-Njigba, there a few things to consider with Wilson’s numbers and how it could affect Smith-Njigba. First, Smith-Njigba still has a full season to play before he can even be extended (the NFL does not allow rookie contracts to be extended until after the player has finished their third season). This brings up a few factors.
More receivers will surely be extended between now and the end of the 2025 season. Terry McLaurin of the Washington Commanders is still waiting to get a new contract, and he would likely be looking at Wilson’s contract as a floor for himself. Other receivers drafted in 2022 will also be looking at new contracts as well, such as Drake London and Chris Olave. Now, London and Olave may have less leverage with their extension discussions as Wilson did considering the lower production and injury history (especially for Olave).
With the NFL cap always going up, so do the contracts. Just look at the likes of Amon-Ra St. Brown and Tyreek Hill, both of whom average $30 million/year and are now seventh and eighth in terms of average money/year. This means the three receivers mentioned earlier (McLaurin/London/Olave) could eclipse Wilson’s $32.5 million average salary simply based on the timing of the contracts. Considering this factor, that bodes very well for Smith-Njigba as well.
All of this considered, though Smith-Njigba does not have the same numbers as Wilson did in his first two years, if he were to repeat his success from last season (or especially if he were to improve on those now that he is the true number one target in Seattle), then he and his agent surely would be looking at $32.5 million as a basement number when negotiations start. Add in the potential contract extensions for McLaurin/London/Olave, and if any of those three top $32.5 million average/year, then those numbers could easily become the basement for Smith-Njigba.
Now let’s look at cornerback. Seattle has two cornerbacks who surely looked at the new deal for Sauce Gardner.
Gardner has had a very similar trajectory to Wilson. He also was a 2022 first-round pick who quickly showed his talent in the NFL, earning Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2022 and is consistently regarded as one of the best corners in the NFL, even despite his off-year this last season. Like Wilson, this has added up to a large pay-day for Gardner.
Also similar to Wilson, Gardner’s exact contract numbers have not come out. However, it has been reported that Gardner signed a 4-year $120.4 million contract including $85.4 million guaranteed. This comes out to $30.1 million average salary, which would put Gardner first among cornerbacks in terms of annual pay, just beating out Derek Stingley Jr. who is averaging $30 million/year.
For Seattle, there are two cornerbacks who they need to consider extending long term, Riq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon. Witherspoon is in similar position to Smith-Njigba, where he cannot get extended until after this 2025 season at the earliest. Because of this, Witherspoon has some waiting to do, which he may not mind doing. As mentioned above, with the NFL salary cap continuously rising, so will the contracts for the elite players, which Witherspoon surely is. Everything the Seahawks have shown indicates that they want Witherspoon to be a Seahawk for a very long time (just look at his placement in the Seahawks Top 50 Players of All Time, despite having only played in two seasons. You can also see this with Witherspoon being the figure head for the latest schedule reveal.)
All of this considered, Witherspoon and his agent will surely be looking at Gardner’s average of $30.1 million/year as a basement for his contract as well, that is if another cornerback doesn’t top that before Witherspoon. Who is one of those potential cornerbacks who can top that before Witherspoon? His teammate, Riq Woolen.
Woolen came into the league hot, just like Gardner, so much so that many argued he should have won Defensive Rookie of the Year over Gardner. However, despite Woolen’s strong start (including six interceptions in his rookie season), he has shown to be inconsistent in the following seasons. Because of this inconsistency, Woolen will need another repeat of his rookie season, and will need to show that he has improved in his deficiencies, such as against the run, to garner a top-tier, elite contract like Gardner or Stingley Jr.’s. The 2025 season will be huge for Woolen; he could easily get himself into market-setting contract territory. However, if Woolen were to continue his inconsistencies (and other issues), to the point where he’s briefly benched again, as he was last season, he could easily see that contract number drop.
The additional interesting piece here is whether Seattle will even extend Woolen. Regardless of his 2025 season, and potential contract, Seattle may be in a bind with having to pay other players from the 2022 draft with expiring contracts (Charles Cross, Boye Mafe, Kenneth Walker III, Abe Lucas, Coby Bryant). Then you need to consider that Witherspoon and Smith-Njigba are only one season away from being eligible for extensions as well. All of this considered, it may be tough for Woolen to get a second contract with Seattle, whether that be because he performs great this season and out-prices Seattle, or if he continues his inconsistency, and Seattle decides to move on. John Schneider will have some tough decisions to make these next few months.