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.

Here is what I love about this story.

JSN was not supposed to be here this fast. He came out of Ohio State as one of the most technically polished route runners in his class — you cannot teach that release, that footwork, that understanding of leverage — but there was a real question about whether his production behind Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave meant he was a product of a great roster. Then he arrived in Seattle and he answered the question. 119 catches. 1,793 yards. 10 touchdowns. First-team All-Pro. Super Bowl ring. At 24 years old.

Seattle looked at all of that and said: we know exactly what we have. Let's not wait to find out what someone else will pay him.

That is how great organizations keep great players. That is how Super Bowl champions become dynasties.

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Kenneth Walker won the Super Bowl LX Most Valuable Player award in February. His line: 127 rushing yards, two touchdowns, and the kind of fourth-quarter running that takes the ball out of a quarterback's hands and puts a game away. Two weeks later, the Kansas City Chiefs signed him.

Three years. $43 million. $28.7 million guaranteed.

Now I know what you are thinking. Walker played his best football in Seattle. The Seahawks' system was built around him. Can he do the same thing in Kansas City, which runs a different kind of offense?

Here is my answer: Patrick Mahomes makes every player around him better. That is not a statement of affection — it is an organizational fact demonstrated over eight consecutive AFC Championship appearances. The running backs who have played in Andy Reid's system with Mahomes at quarterback have consistently outperformed their contracts because Mahomes commands the defense's full attention in a way that creates space for everything around him. Walker is the Super Bowl MVP. He knows how to be a championship player in the fourth quarter. He is going to Kansas City, and the Chiefs are going to use him in ways that make defenses miserable because they already have to worry about everything else.

I cannot wait to see what Andy Reid designs for him.

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I want to say something about Kyler Murray.

He signed with the Minnesota Vikings this week for one year and $1.3 million. The Arizona Cardinals are paying $36.8 million of his dead cap this season. Murray walks away with $1.3 million against Minnesota's cap, a no-tag clause protecting his future, and a chance to compete for a starting job in a quarterback room with J.J. McCarthy and Carson Wentz.

That is the most humbling possible circumstance for a player who was a first-overall pick, a Pro Bowler, and not very long ago one of the most electric young quarterbacks in football. The injuries and the organizational turbulence in Arizona made the last three years very hard. The contract structure became a problem the franchise could not solve. He is now in Minnesota trying to earn back something.

I believe in second chances. I believe in them specifically when a player has Murray's arm talent and his ability to create plays that should not exist with his legs. You do not lose that. You lose circumstances, and sometimes circumstances change.

I am rooting for him.

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Ten things I am watching this week:

1. The CFL Combine opens tomorrow in Edmonton. March 27 through 29 at the Commonwealth Fieldhouse. Christian Veilleux is the quarterback the scouts have circled. The eight prospects who advanced from the Waterloo Invitational are competing for roster spots. The CFL Draft is April 28. This is real football being evaluated by real scouts, and I want to see who comes out of Edmonton with a contract offer.

2. Aaron Rodgers has until the end of the month. Five days. Mike McCarthy, who won a Super Bowl with Rodgers in Green Bay, is now the head coach in Pittsburgh. The organization has built a roster around the assumption that he returns. Whatever happens by March 31 will define Pittsburgh's entire 2026 offseason.

3. Fernando Mendoza's Pro Day is April 1. He did not throw at the combine. He throws at Indiana next Wednesday. The Raiders have a Top 30 visit scheduled shortly after. Every snap of that workout will be studied by every team in the top five picks. The question is not whether he goes first overall. The question is whether he confirms what the league believes he is.

4. What Maxx Crosby's situation becomes. He's still a Raider. Dallas has been mentioned as a potential trade destination. The Raiders have Fernando Mendoza coming in April and $81 million committed to Tyler Linderbaum. Where Crosby fits in their three-year plan is a conversation happening right now in Las Vegas.

5. Whether Tyreek Hill lands anywhere. His agent says he will be ready for Week 1. The Chiefs are mentioned. The Patriots are mentioned. Several contenders are mentioned. The answer tells you something about how the league values elite speed coming off a torn ACL and dislocated knee.

6. The NFL owners' meetings open in Phoenix next week. The tush push is safe — no proposal to ban it reached the agenda. Five rule proposals are on the table, including replay correction of officiating errors. The officiating proposals are the ones worth watching.

7. A.J. Brown and the June 1 calendar. No handshake deal. No imminent trade. Eight weeks until the cap math works for Philadelphia. New England remains the most cited suitor. Rodgers and Brown are the two unsigned/unsettled stars whose situations will define the spring. I am watching both calendars.

8. Lane Kiffin is in day three of spring practice at LSU. Sam Leavitt has limited availability. Fifty-four new players on the roster. Fifteen practices through April 23. Kiffin said "things don't happen overnight." He is right. These practices will tell us whether the preseason projections — LSU over/under 8.5 wins, third-highest in the SEC — are fair or wildly optimistic.

9. The Miami Dolphins with Malik Willis at quarterback. They traded Waddle to Denver. They traded Fitzpatrick to the Jets. They released Tyreek Hill and he remains unsigned. This is a franchise in genuine transition, and the first starting rep Willis gets in pads will tell you something about what direction they have chosen.

10. Jaxon Smith-Njigba has a Super Bowl ring, $168.8 million, and is 24 years old. He is going to be very, very good for a very long time. We are lucky to get to watch him.