Jaxon Smith-Njigba Becomes the Highest-Paid Receiver in NFL History, the Maxx Crosby Trade Collapses in Baltimore, and Rodgers Has Until Month's End to Tell Pittsburgh

NFLSeattle

Jaxon Smith-Njigba Signs a Four-Year, $168.8M Extension — the Richest Wide Receiver Contract in NFL History

The 24-year-old Super Bowl LX champion is now the highest-paid receiver in NFL history at $42.15M per year. No holdout. No drama. Seattle paid what he is worth.

The Seattle Seahawks extended wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba on Thursday to a four-year contract worth $168.8 million — $42.15 million per year — making him the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history and the first player at the position to surpass $42 million annually.

The deal eclipses the previous record set by Ja'Marr Chase, who signed a four-year extension with Cincinnati last spring at $40.25 million per year. Smith-Njigba's contract includes $113 million fully guaranteed, per league sources.

Smith-Njigba, 24, was a first-team All-Pro selection in 2025 after posting 119 receptions for 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns — all career highs — while operating in a Seattle offense that had meaningful deficiencies at other positions. He was a central contributor to the Seahawks' Super Bowl LX championship, their first since the 2013 season.

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The NotebookBusiness & Process

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The Notebook: Seattle Pays What JSN Is Worth, the Crosby Trade Collapses in Baltimore, and Rodgers Has Five Days to Tell Pittsburgh Something

Four years, $168.8M — no drama, no holdout. The Maxx Crosby saga ends with a degenerative finding and a thirteen-hour pivot to Hendrickson. A.J. Brown, eight weeks to June 1.

I want to start this week with Seattle, because I think the conversation about what the Seahawks are building is not being had at the right scale. Four years, $168.8 million. $42.15 million per year. Jaxon Smith-Njigba is 24 years old and he is now the highest-paid wide receiver in the history of professional football. The extension surpasses Ja'Marr Chase's $40.25 million record by nearly two million dollars per year and was completed without a holdout, without a negotiating drama, without a single day of public posturing. Seattle looked at what they had, priced it honestly, and secured it.

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From the TrenchesFilm Room

NFLBaltimoreLas VegasLos Angeles

From the Trenches: What Trey Hendrickson Actually Does — and What Maxx Crosby's Knee Actually Means

Hendrickson is a speed-to-power converter with championship technique. The degenerative finding in Crosby's knee is not the same thing as the meniscus tear they repaired in January.

Trey Hendrickson signed with Baltimore on Friday afternoon, thirteen hours after the Maxx Crosby trade collapsed. The speed of that pivot deserves scrutiny, because it tells you something about how thoroughly Eric DeCosta had prepared for the possibility that the Crosby physical would come back with a problem. Let me tell you what Hendrickson actually does on a football field, because 17.5 sacks is a number and the technique is the thing.

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First & TenThe Joy of the Game

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First and Ten: JSN Is 24 and Just Signed the Richest Receiver Contract in History. Kenneth Walker Is Going to Kansas City. And I Am Rooting for Kyler Murray.

Great organizations pay what their players are worth. Super Bowl MVPs go to the Chiefs. Second chances matter. Ten things I am watching this week.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba is 24 years old and he just became the highest-paid wide receiver in the history of professional football. Four years. $168.8 million. $42.15 million a year. The number surpasses Ja'Marr Chase's record by almost two million dollars per year. And Seattle made it happen without drama, without a holdout, without a single day of negotiating theater. They saw what they had. They paid for it. They moved on.

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Today in FootballNews & Notes

NFLLas VegasBaltimore

The Maxx Crosby Trade to Baltimore Collapses After a Degenerative Knee Finding in the Physical. He Remains a Raider.

Crosby flew to Baltimore expecting to close the deal. Ravens GM Eric DeCosta was 'gutted.' The Raiders say he is healthy. Two organizations, two reads of the same knee.

The Maxx Crosby trade to the Baltimore Ravens collapsed Thursday after Ravens team doctors discovered what the organization described as a degenerative knee condition during a pre-trade physical, ending a transaction that had been widely reported as imminent and triggering an immediate and consequential pivot by Baltimore's front office. Crosby, 28, had traveled from Las Vegas to Baltimore in anticipation of finalizing the deal. Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said publicly that the organization was "gutted" by the outcome. The Raiders, in their own statement, maintained that Crosby is healthy and productive — he recorded 10 sacks in 2025 while playing through a torn meniscus that required surgical repair in January — and that Baltimore backed out of a legitimate deal.

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NFLBaltimoreCincinnati

Baltimore Signs Trey Hendrickson to Four Years, $112M — Thirteen Hours After the Crosby Trade Fell Apart

The NFL's sack leader in 2024. Four years, $112M, $60M fully guaranteed. The Ravens went and found their pass rusher the same afternoon the Crosby deal collapsed.

The Baltimore Ravens signed edge rusher Trey Hendrickson to a four-year contract worth $112 million, with a maximum value of $120 million including sack incentives and $60 million fully guaranteed — completing a transaction that came together within hours of Baltimore's failed attempt to acquire Maxx Crosby from Las Vegas. Hendrickson, 31, led the NFL with 17.5 sacks in 2024 while playing for Cincinnati, establishing himself over the last three seasons as the most consistently productive pass rusher in the AFC North. His release from the Bengals, who faced significant cap constraints following the Trey Hendrickson contract year alongside other roster obligations, created an opening in the market that Baltimore moved to close as soon as the Crosby situation resolved.

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NFLKansas CitySeattle

Kansas City Signs Super Bowl LX MVP Kenneth Walker to Three Years, $43M — Adding the Seahawks' Bell Cow to a Dynasty

127 yards and two touchdowns in the Super Bowl. Now he plays for Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs upgraded their running back with the player who beat them eight weeks ago.

The Kansas City Chiefs signed running back Kenneth Walker to a three-year contract worth $43.05 million with $28.7 million fully guaranteed on Thursday, adding the Super Bowl LX Most Valuable Player to an offense that has now won three championships in the last six seasons. Walker, 25, earned MVP honors in Super Bowl LX with 127 rushing yards and two touchdowns in Seattle's 29-13 victory — the performance that defined his public profile entering free agency and set the market price that Kansas City ultimately met. He spent three seasons with the Seahawks as their primary ball carrier, averaging 4.6 yards per carry over his career and producing at least 900 rushing yards in each of his last two seasons.

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NFLMinneapolisGlendale

Kyler Murray Signs With the Minnesota Vikings for $1.3M — the Cardinals Absorbing $36.8M in Dead Cap to Free Him

A first-overall pick, a Pro Bowler, and a player who has not played a full healthy season since 2021. Minnesota adds the former Cardinal to compete for a starting job.

Kyler Murray signed with the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday on a one-year deal worth $1.3 million against the Vikings' salary cap, with the Arizona Cardinals absorbing approximately $36.8 million in dead cap obligations from his prior contract — completing one of the more unusual financial arrangements of the free agency period and giving Murray a roster spot to compete for a starting position. Murray, 28, was released by Arizona in February following three seasons marked by a torn ACL in 2022, inconsistent organizational direction, and a contract structure that became an impediment to the franchise's rebuild. His cap number had been a significant limitation on Arizona's roster flexibility, and the Cardinals' willingness to absorb the full dead cap hit to facilitate his departure reflects the organization's determination to move on from the arrangement entirely.

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CFLEdmontonWaterloo

The CFL National Combine Opens Tomorrow in Edmonton — Veilleux Headlines a 70-Player Field Going Into the Padded Practices

Three days at the Commonwealth Fieldhouse. Christian Veilleux is the quarterback with NFL combine experience who could leave Edmonton as the top pick at the position. The draft is April 28.

The 2026 CFL National Combine opens Friday at the Commonwealth Fieldhouse in Edmonton, Alberta, running through Sunday, March 29 — with 70 invited prospects preparing to begin three days of athletic testing and full-team practice evaluations in front of scouts from all nine CFL franchises. Friday's schedule includes 40-yard dash timing, three-cone shuttle, short shuttle, and vertical and broad jump testing alongside bench press evaluation. Saturday and Sunday shift to padded practice days, which provide the position-specific evaluation that CFL scouts consider the most reliable indicator of professional projection.

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