Ohio State fans have known just how good Jaxon Smith-Njigba would be in the NFL for a long time, but his true superstar breakout finally came in Year 3, and it led the Seattle Seahawks all the way to hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. Sunday night’s win in Santa Clara also thrust JSN into one of the NFL’s most exclusive clubs, right alongside his Seattle teammate.
Until this year, Cooper Kupp was the only player in NFL history to lead the league in receiving yards, win the Offensive Player of the Year, and win the Super Bowl in the same season. JSN just became the second.
#Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba is the second player in NFL history to lead the league in receiving, win Offensive Player of the Year and win the Super Bowl in the same season.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) February 9, 2026
The only other player to do it was teammate Cooper Kupp in 2021. https://t.co/8WH2j1ebMi pic.twitter.com/Ppg3Bz7HcC
Jaxon Smith-Njigba made Super Bowl history right alongside Cooper Kupp
Ironically, on a night when New England’s Christian Gonzales helped to limit JSN to 27 yards on four catches, his second-lowest receiving total of the season, in the Seahawks’ 29-13 win, it was Kupp who filled the void. The veteran led the team with six grabs for 61 yards. Smith-Njigba also missed time against the Patriots as he was checked for a concussion before returning to the field.
It was far from his best performance, but it didn’t matter in the end because it was a historically great season. Kupp’s 2021 campaign also included a triple crown, as the then-LA Ram led the league in catches, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns, but JSN was nearly as prolific, and at 23 years old, he’ll get rewarded more handsomely.
Following his record-breaking year, Kupp inked a three-year $80 million deal with LA that included $35 million guaranteed at signing. Smith-Njigba is extension eligible this offseason, as he heads into his fourth year in the NFL, and will be in line to become one of the most expansion non-quarterbacks in the sport.
JSN’s massive season will land him an even bigger contract extension
Both JSN and Puka Nacua, the Rams’ superstar wide receiver who replaced Kupp as Matthew Stafford’s No. 1 target, are expected to sign contracts this offseason. Whoever goes first will set the market for the other to surpass, so it’ll be a complicated game of chicken in which JSN, as a first-round pick, will have the upper hand on the 2023 fifth-rounder.
JSN has already made more money in his career, which allows for more patience, and he has the fifth-year option as a first-round pick, while Nacua will be entering the final year of his rookie contract in 2026.
Either way, JSN’s historic season will land him a mega-deal and has already cemented his place in NFL history with one of the greatest wide receiver seasons of all time.