Green Bay Packers: It’s Time for Christian Watson to Truly Become a Superstar

The Green Bay Packers clearly believe in Christian Watson. Now, they're paying him like the WR1 that they've always envisioned him to be.

On Thursday, it was reported that the Packers and Watson have agreed to a new four-year contract extension.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, it's a four-year deal worth $110.5 million. That's an average annual value of $27.6 million, and it came with a signing bonus of $31 million.

This new contract overshadows the one given to wide receiver Jayden Reed just weeks earlier. Both players are former second round picks. Watson was drafted in 2022 out of North Dakota State and Reed joined the Packers a year later out of Michigan State.

Reed's contract was worth three years, $50.25 million, with $20 million guaranteed. It has an AAV of right around $16 million.

That was a big contract for Reed, but it pales in comparison to this one given to Watson.

The Packers like Reed and obviously believe he can be a big part of the offense moving forward, but this contract for Watson shows you what they really feel about him.

He's struggled with injuries ever since the Packers selected him No. 34 overall in 2022, but anytime he was on the field, he showed off game-changing ability thanks to his size (6-foot-4, 208 pounds) and speed.

As a rookie, playing with Aaron Rodgers, Watson caught 41 passes for 611 yards and seven touchdowns. He played just nine games in 2023 due to injury but still put up 422 yards and five touchdowns.

He tore his ACL at the end of the 2024 season which meant he played in just 10 games last season. In that 10 game stretch after his return, though, Watson caught 35 passes for 611 yards and six touchdowns. He led the NFL in yards per catch with 17.5 from Week 8 to Week 18.

He's always been seen as a deep-threat, but notably, Watson used his time recovering from injury to also work on his route tree. He became more than just a vertical field stretcher for the Packers last season. Whether it's a 40 yard bomb or a five yard out-route, Watson showed the capability to get open and he became Jordan Love's most consistent target.

Watson was the player the Packers envisioned they'd be getting when they took him out of North Dakota State as a raw wideout with incredible speed and athleticism.

Now the Packers just need him to do it consistently, but they clearly believe he can.

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