Jaxon Smith-Njigba exploded in year three, winning Offensive Player of the Year and helping the Seattle Seahawks to the franchise's second Super Bowl victory. He leads the list of potential record-breaking extension candidates and free agents this offseason.
From electric wide receivers and workhorse running backs, to a dominant edge rusher and a standout tight end, here are the NFL stars who can reset the market at their positions this summer.
TE Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions
Sam LaPorta was limited to nine games last season, but he pulled in 40 receptions for 489 yards and three touchdowns while averaging a career-high 12.2 yards per catch. Detroit has every incentive to hammer out a new deal, as he's grown into one of Jared Goff's favorite targets.
One of the more well-rounded and explosive playmakers at his position, the main factor working against LaPorta is the season-ending back injury that cut his 2025 short. He's only under contract for one more year, though, and Detroit's offense plainly suffered in LaPorta's absence. At 25 years old, he has a combined 20 touchdowns across 42 career games. He's a red zone target magnet, with solid blocking technique in the trenches and the agility to reel off YAC in the open field.
Detroit has other hefty contract extensions to weigh, but LaPorta could command a salary that challenges the best in the business.
Top five NFL tight end contracts
Name | Total Years | Total Money | Guaranteed Money | AAV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
George Kittle | 4 | $76.4 million | $33 million | $19.1 million |
Trey McBride | 4 | $76 million | $32.5 million | $19 million |
TJ Hockenson | 4 | $66 million | $29.3 million | $16.5 million |
David Njoku | 4 | $54.8 million | $17 million | $13.7 million |
Cole Kmet | 4 | $50 million | $22.9 million | $12.5 million |
Kittle is the exception here, as LaPorta falls into the same age range as McBride, Hockenson (whom he replaced in Detroit) and the others in this tax bracket. Tight end is a less premium position, and Detroit has to juggle a lot of financial challenges right now, but LaPorta is plainly elite and should drive a hard bargain.
EDGE Will Anderson Jr., Houston Texans
Will Anderson Jr. was the engine behind the AFC's No. 1 defense last season. Houston was an absolute buzzsaw down the stretch and could've wound up in the Super Bowl had CJ Stroud achieved even baseline competence under center in the Divisional Round. Anderson's third season was his best yet: a career-high 12.0 sacks and 23 QB hits, earning first-team All-Pro and finishing second to sack leader Myles Garrett in the Defensive Player of the Year race.
Outside of quarterbacks, edge rushers tend to get the NFL's most lucrative deals. Anderson is only 24 years old, with a couple Pro Bowl, DPOY-type seasons under his belt already. He's a streamlined missile, blending dexterity and physicality in a way few human beings on earth can. This Texans defense has a real edge to it (no pun intended), and Anderson's relentless motor is one of the main reasons Houston profiles as such an intriguing threat in the AFC.
It feels like the edge market gets reset every year or two. If anyone is going to top the current leaderboard this summer, it's Anderson. Houston can kick this can down the road, but there's no reason to put it off. Anderson is the cornerstone of the organization at this point, with all due respect to Stroud.
Top five NFL edge rusher contracts
Name | Total Years | Total Money | Guaranteed Money | AAV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Micah Parsons | 4 | $186 million | $123.1 million | $46.5 million |
Aidan Hutchinson | 4 | $180 million | $55.4 million | $45 million |
Nick Bosa | 5 | $170 million | $88 million | $34 million |
Myles Garrett | 4 | $160 million | $88.8 million | $40 million |
TJ Watt | 3 | $123 million | $108 million | $41 million |
Is Anderson "better" than Micah Parsons or Garrett? Probably not, in a vacuum, but that's not really how these negotiations work. It's all about leverage and necessity. The Texans' defense is an elite unit and Anderson is the ringleader, their beating heart. If he tops $190 million, don't act surprised.
RB Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons and RB Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit Lions
Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs were selected four picks apart in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Now both are extension eligible, coming off of arguably the two most dominant running back campaigns in the league last season.
Robinson finished fourth in Offensive Player of the Year voting, but led the NFL in yards from scrimmage (2,298), averaging career-best 5.1 yards per run and 10.4 yards per catch. Atlanta's offense couldn't get out of neutral most Sundays, but Robinson practically carried the Falcons to the brink of NFC South contention.
Gibbs is three-for-three on Pro Bowl berths since joining the league. He put up 1,839 yards from scrimmage and 18 touchdowns in 2025, and has found paydirt 49 times (!!) in 49 career games. The Lions use him all over the field, and he's especially trustworthy in the red zone. Both Detroit and Atlanta have other prominent running backs in the mix, but Robinson and Gibbs are the créme de la créme in terms of versatility and workload — especially given their youthful outlooks.
Top five NFL running back contracts
Name | Total Years | Total Money | Guaranteed Money | AAV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Josh Jacobs | 4 | $48 million | $12.5 million | $12 million |
James Cook | 4 | $46 million | $15.3 million | $11.5 million |
Jonathan Taylor | 3 | $42 million | $19.4 million | $14 million |
Saquon Barkley | 2 | $41.2 million | $36 million | $20.6 million |
Christian McCaffrey | 2 | $38 million | $24 million | $19 million |
Frankly, this feels like the easiest slam dunk as far as resetting the market. Robinson and Gibbs probably don't get more than Barkley's $20.6 million AAV, which came after a genuinely historic, Super Bowl-winning campaign, but topping $50 million over four years is practically a no-brainer for Atlanta and Detroit. That is, unless they want to drag this out another year or two.
WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks and WR Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams
Another two-hander, as Seattle's Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Los Angeles' Puka Nacua both have strong cases to reset the wide receiver market this summer. The former won OPOY (and eventually the Super Bowl), reeling in 119 receptions for 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns. Nacua put up 1,715 yards on 129 receptions, scoring 10 touchdowns and finishing third in OPOY voting.
The Seahawks are at the onset of a potential dynasty and need to figure out how to balance an inflating cap sheet. The Rams are in the waning stage of Matthew Stafford's Hall of Fame career — built to win now, but with a less certain future.
It will be fascinating to see the similarities and contrasts to how both players are valued. JSN is more of your classic WR1 type — twitchy, explosive, able to take the lid off a defense and execute the highlight-reel catches in traffic. Nacua can do those things too, but he's more of a fundamentals savant and an overall workhorse. He runs sharper, often shorter routes, exacting death by a thousand cuts on his opponents.
Both JSN and Nacua are tied at the hips to their quarterbacks at this point. How Nacua looks in a year or two with whomever replaces Stafford will determine how this upcoming contract ages. It feels like Smith-Njigba and Sam Darnold have a longer shelf life in Seattle, but with Klint Kubiak taking the Raiders head coaching job, the Seahawks' offense is about to change in a major way.
Top five NFL wide receiver contracts
Name | Total Years | Total Money | Guaranteed Money | AAV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ja'Marr Chase | 4 | $161 million | $73.9 million | $40.3 million |
Justin Jefferson | 4 | $140 million | $88.8 million | $35 million |
CeeDee Lamb | 4 | $136 million | $67 million | $34 million |
DK Metcalf | 4 | $132 million | $60 million | $33 million |
Garrett Wilson | 4 | $130 million | $40.7 million | $32.5 million |
It's hard to adovocate for any wide receiver making more than Ja'Marr Chase or Justin Jefferson, but again, this is not about who's worth the most money — it's which wideout(s) can capitalize on an inflating market at the right moment. Neither Seattle nor L.A. are at the top of the NFC standings last season without JSN or Nacua, respectively. Both teams have immediate competitive aspirations; both wideouts have long careers ahead of them. Expect big numbers all around.